


Rotten Fruit

by GioGioStar



Category: Fruits Basket
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Amputation, Blood and Gore, Character Death, Child Zombie, End of the World, Guns, Implied Child Murder, Mental Breakdown, Mental Instability, Minor Character Death, Near Death Experiences, Original Character Death(s), Suicide, Vomiting, Weapons, Zombies, child ZOMBIE death, gun use, will add more tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-29
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-03-26 17:03:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 30,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19010053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GioGioStar/pseuds/GioGioStar
Summary: The world was going to hell in a hand-basket as the dead come back. Tohru, Kyo, Yuki and the rest of their group struggle to survive this new horrific world where the lines of Living and Dead have now become blurred.





	1. Chapter 1

Nobody knew that today was the end of everything. Nobody knew that today was the start of something horrific. Nobody knew that today was the day that the world was going to change, and people would either survive through it or die. Today. Today was going to be burned on everybody’s memories. Today was something that everybody wished never happened. They didn’t realize the disaster that was happening on a global scale.

A young woman stood up from her classroom suddenly, catching the attention of the entire classroom. She heard the teacher calling her name saying things like how Hanajima needed to sit back down, or how Hanajima was going to get detention if she continued to disrupt the classroom. And all she could say to them was that she simply didn’t care. All she did was look at the students in the classroom. Two of her best friends, and one that recently became a good friend.

“Uo, Tohru, Kyo, we need to leave now,” her voice was serious.

All three nodded slowly, grabbing their things and following her, ignoring the teacher’s screams and the hushed whispers from the class. Once they stepped out, they followed Hana to the end of the hallway before turning quickly out of view from the class in case if the teacher came out to find them.

“What the hell is going on?” the young ginger barked.

“Yeah, Hana, what’s going on?” a blond girl mused.

“The Waves. They changed into something. It scared me.” Hana admitted.

“So, you made us look like dumbasses because of your Waves?” the ginger spat.

“Kyo,” the brunette whispered, “her Waves-“

“I’m going back to class,” Kyo started to make his way back.

“Go, back and you will die. I only took you because you are Tohru’s friend,” Hana stated casually.

“Are you threatening me?” Kyo started as he towered over her.

“I’m saying that if you value your life, you will listen to me. But if you don’t, go back to the classroom.”

“Carrot-Top, listen to Hana, her Wave report have never been wrong before. If she senses that something isn’t right, it’s worth listening,” the blonde student stated.

“Uo’s right Kyo, please just come with us,” Tohru whispered.

Kyo grumbled as he looked at the three women and sighed. It was pointless, he was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t. Two of the three girls were going to intentionally make him feel like an ass while the other would do it accidentally. He continued to follow them as they passed classrooms. Every class seemed to be getting a bit rowdy, much to their surprise. As they made their way to the rooftop, the principle was making some kind of announcement over the intercom. From what they heard, he was ordering for everybody to stay in their classes until further notice. When they turned again, away from the classrooms, dead silence filled the halls once again. After some time, they reached the rooftop, the nice breeze hitting their faces. But as beautiful and refreshing the nice cool air was, they could see beyond the school grounds. Their faces twisted in horrific shock. A few blocks from the school, there was a five-car accident while at the gate, there appeared to be a fight with some random person at the gate with a teacher before the teacher suddenly slumped over, a pool forming near him.

“What the fuck!” Kyo cried out, pointing at the gate.

“What the hell is going on Hana?”

“I already stated it earlier. Something is wrong. The Waves,” Hana was trying to find the right words.

“Hana, you can tell us,” Tohru whispered.

“You know how I can listen to people’s emotions, right”

Everybody nodded.

“Emotions have a certain sound for me. Even those that have passed over to the other side have a certain sound, but their sound is so soft compared to the living.”

“And what do your waves have to do with this?” Kyo questioned.

“That teacher’s waves stopped when they slumped, and that other person, their waves are softer than ours but louder than the dead. But,” Hana paused, trying to find the right words, “unlike the chorus of sounds people make, they made a kind of static.”

“Static?” Uo was puzzled.

“It’ as if it has no emotions.”

Everybody just looked at her stunned. Static? No emotions? What was going on then? What did she mean that the teachers’ waves suddenly stopped? Were they dead? Did they just witness a murder? Did they need to call the police? Tohru brought out her phone, dialing the emergency button. The only thing she heard was an automotive voice stating that there was an unusually high amount of phone calls and to try again later before hanging her up. Tears began to form in her eyes when suddenly they heard the school screaming.

“Momiji, Haru, and Yuki are still inside the school, we need to get them!” Tohru cried out.

“Tohru, stay here, Carrot Top and I will get them,” Uo stated casually as Kyo and she made their way to grab the other two.

Both of them hoping that they could get to them with all the insanity that seemed to start out of nowhere.

 

~*~

A young man with silver hair and silver eyes sighed as he listened to the other members of the student council. Today was their weekly meeting during the middle of class. The silver eyes spotted his right-hand man in the council dozing off again. He grabbed one of his books and slammed them on the desk in front of the brunet. With a sudden slam, the young man was awake.

“I’m up, I’m just resting my eyes for a second!”

“Kakeru, you’re a shity liar,” the silver-haired male sighed.

“Oh, Yun-Yun, you hurt my feelings,” Kakeru gave a bit of a smug smile at Yuki.

“Don’t Yun-Yun me, we need to start the meeting,” Yuki sighed.

The students started talking about one of the upcoming events a few months from now and how they could raise the money for it. There were ideas for getting money for the events. One that seemed promising was a bake sale. Yuki could imagine Tohru’s amazing cooking skills working for this. She was amazing with cooking and baking. Honestly, he felt blessed knowing that he got to eat her food.

“Attention students and faculty, please stay inside your rooms. The school is in lockdown. Please remain calm and do not leave the class until your teacher gives you permission,” the intercom blared.

“What’s going on?” the black-haired girl questioned.

“Does it matter?” grumbled a younger male with brown eyes.

“Maybe it’s serial killer walking around the school,” Kakeru laughed, “and it’s our job to save the school.”

“Or maybe we just throw you to them as a sacrifice,” Yuki muttered.

“That’d be fun,” a brown-haired girl chuckled lightly.

“My own sister? Machi, you are picking on me?” Machi rolled her eyes at Kakeru as she continued going through the finances.

“I wonder what’s going on,” Yuki mussed softly to himself.

“Does it matter? We’ll end up going back to class once it’s passed.”

“You’re right Nao,” Kakeru chirped, “Kimi, can you get me a cup of tea?”

They heard something hit the door suddenly. Yuki stood up suddenly making his way towards the door before Kakeru stopped him, letting him know that he would check. Yuki motioned for everyone to stay calm as Kakeru made his way to the door. The young man opened the door slightly before it burst open.

Everything happened so fast. It looked like one of the first-year students. Kakeru yelled at them but it didn’t seem to phase them at all. They gave a gargled throaty cry before Kakeru was able to push them out and closing the door. The student seemed to be attempting to break the door, although not that well.

“What the hell is wrong with them?” Kakeru muttered out loud.

“Kakeru,” Yuki pointed at his hand, “you’re hurt.”

“Wha?” Kakeru looked at his hand, seeing it drip with blood, “they bit me! That’s so gross!”

“Eww,” Naohito muttered unamused, “that’s disgusting.”

“Nao, can you help me clean up his hand? It looks kinda serious,” Machi spoke.

Naohito rolled his eyes as he stood up and rummaged through the teacher’s desk. He found a first aid kit and brought it over Machi. She thanked him softly as she took the kit and opened it. Machi took a handful of alcohol wipes while Naohito took out some antibacterial cream, gauze, and bandages for her to treat her brother. Nao looked at Kakeru’s hand once Machi cleaned all the blood off, revealing a very deep bite mark. His hand throbbed painfully as every pulse squeezed fresh blood.

“Kakeru, I think you might need stitches,” Machi spoke casually.

“The fuck, how did they bite me that hard?” Kakeru cried out.

“Kimi, do you think you can get Komaki? She might have to take him to the hospital,” Yuki spoke up as he saw his friend’s hand.

It looked really bad, clearly, it was infected as he saw a bit of swelling around Kakeru’s hand already.

“Kimi’s go it,” Kimi winked, “if I see the student that bit him, I’ll make them pay,”

By now, the banging had stopped. They figured that the student who attacked Kakeru was long gone at this point. Kimi walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Yuki looked at Kakeru before sighing, “Let me see your hand.”

“Sorry Yuki, I’m already taken,” Kakeru smirked.

“I’m going to fucking beat you up,” Yuki muttered as he grabbed his friend’s hand, earning a laugh from the brunet, “Just as I thought, you’re going to get it amputated,”

“You’re mean, Prince Yuki,” Kakeru laughed.

Machi chuckled at Yuki and Kakeru’s banter against the other as she began to wrap the gauze around his hand. Afterward, she wrapped the bandages and a compression bandage to hopefully slow the bleeding down more.

Yuki looked at the clock on the window, surprised that it had been about thirty minutes since Kimi left. It was taking her longer than normal. He looked over at Kakeru, he wasn’t looking good. He was sweating uncontrollably, his body shaking.

“How are you feeling?” Yuki asked.

“Pres, I feel really cold and I’m super tired.”

“You’re always taking a nap, just take one right now.” Yuki smiled.

“I think I’ll do that.”

Machi wiped away her brother’s hair from his face, his entire body felt like it was on fire. He must have gotten a really bad infection for him to have gotten like this so quickly. She was getting worried about him. This wasn’t normal. There was no way a regular bite mark would cause such a strong fever like this to happen this quickly.  She pulled herself away from her brother and went to the other two guys in the room. She wasn’t sure how she would go about this. Something wasn’t right, a feeling that just didn’t want to leave her. Her brother was sicker than he should have been.

“Hey, guys,” Machi whispered, careful to not wake up her half-brother, “something’s not right, Kimi’s been taking too long.”

“Yeah, it’s not like her to just bail out,” Naohito muttered.

“I’m going to fi-” Machi was stopped as Kakeru bit her neck hard.

They didn’t even see Kakeru stand. They didn’t hear him wheeze hoarsely. But there he was, a chunk of his sister’s flesh in his mouth, she let out a scream as she bled out. Nao pushed Kakeru off Machi, Yuki hunched over her body. Blood, her blood covered their faces as they saw her brother ripping muscle and part of her artery messily off. Her body falling to the floor as her eyes went wide with horror.

“Machi!” Yuki was wide-eyed.

He couldn’t believe this was happening. The girl he had a crush on was laying before him. He wanted to pick her up close to him. But he knew that if he did, he would turn into a rat. There was nothing he could do.

“Please, Machi,” Yuki pleaded weakly, “I-” he wanted to say it.

I like you. I love you. You are the most beautiful woman in the world to me. You make me feel alive. Don’t die. I love you. If you die, I’ll never forgive myself. Please don’t die. Please don’t die. Please don’t die. Those thoughts swirled in his mind. Without thinking, he pressed his mouth against hers, hoping that blowing air and pressing her neck wound would keep her life from fading. His mouth tasted iron as he desperately tried to save her life. This wasn’t supposed to be happening. She was still young. He was still young. They had the whole world and their whole futures before them. And now, hers was being snuffed. And there was absolutely nothing he could do.

Yuki watched the life fade from her eyes. Yuki felt bitter tears burn his eyes as he saw Kakeru taking a bite out of Naohito’s arm. The young man cursing violently at Kakeru. Yuki, without thinking, ran up to Kakeru, kicking him square in the face. His body flew across the classroom, hitting his head hard against the desk.

Nao rushed over to Kakeru’s body, looking at it horrified, “Yuki, you fucking killed him.”

Yuki felt like his body was running solely on adrenaline at this point. He couldn’t believe what happened. He killed his best friend. His best friend killed their half-sister, the one person that Yuki could see himself wanting to spend the rest of his life with.

Suddenly, both turned to see Machi almost making a grunge-like noise. Her body twitched as if she was coming back to life. Both boys’ eyes widened in horror as they saw Machi stand again, her eyes lacked the life they once held, but her body still moved. She gazed at Naohito, his arm almost gushing with fresh blood before she lunged at him, biting his arm.

“Machi, stop!” Yuki screamed as he pushed her off Naohito.

“Something’s not right, she bled out, there was no fucking way she was surviving that, how the hell is she still moving?”

“I don’t know, are you okay?”

“Both of them fucking bit me, I need to go to the hospital,” Nao spat darkly, and I feel like I’m about to pass out, so that isn’t helping.”

“Don’t pass out then and we’ll be fine!”

Again, Machi went after Naohito, and every time, Yuki would push her hard enough to fall, but again she would get back up. And then, Yuki heard a loud thump, seeing that Nao just collapsed to the floor. This wasn’t good. He was alone with Machi who suddenly lost interest in Nao and was now eyeing him. He didn’t want to fight her. He needed to get her back to her senses. That’s what he needed to do. She was still in there. She was still Machi.

“Machi, please, you’re not like this, most of the time. If you stop, I’ll take you out for some food,” Yuki was trying to keep calm.

All she did was give a gargled wheeze before she gave a blood-curdling sound as she tried to bite Yuki. He was faster than her. He dodged her bites and grasps as he tried to plead with her. He didn’t want to hurt her. She was still there. He knew it. Even though he kept a good eye on Machi, he kept his eye on Nao. Something told him that he was going to be joining Machi. And if that was the case, there was a good possibility that he wasn’t going to be able to play with kiddy gloves on with them. He just hoped that it wouldn’t come to it.

“What are you- Get back- ” the intercom turned on.

Yuki recognized the voice as the principle. They sounded terrified. He could make out the same sounds as near them that Kakeru and Machi made. And then suddenly a blood-curdling shrill erupted from the entire intercom from the Principle. It sounded like a blood bath with the sounds of flesh being shredded to pieces, sloppy chomping sounds, and the sickening blood-soaked gargles.

~*~

 

Kyo and Uo were running through the school, seeing students running scared out of their minds. They reminded Kyo of roaches when the lights were turned on. They were trying to get out of this building, but he couldn’t understand why. And that’s when they saw it. One of the girls from the student body council, her entire frame covered in blood as she went about trying to grasp and snap at one of the schoolgirls. She let out a horrendous gurgled hiss as she finally managed to grasp at the student’s leg.

“Kimi, it’s me, Komaki! You’re scaring me!” she cried as she tried to kick her leg out of Kimi’s grasp.

Kimi sunk her teeth into Komaki’s leg, blood gushing freely as more students screamed along with Komaki. Kyo and Uo pressed through, trying to find Haru and Momiji. This was just ridiculous. What the hell was happening. They had just witnessed one of the student body council members sinking her teeth right into another person as if she were eating barbeque.

They made it to the first-year student’s floor after some pushing through students. Kyo was calling for Haru and Momiji, hoping that they would be able to hear him through the screams of terrified students. This was looking bad. The further they went through the halls the more the air smelled like metal, sweat, and rotting flesh. It was nauseating trying to navigate through the mess.

And that was when Uo tugged at Kyo’s sleeve, showing him Momiji and Haru. Both boys were surrounded by students and even some faculty that made those gushing hoarse raspier. Uo saw some broken chair legs that were originally from the chairs they would assign the students to sit in class. She wasn’t sure how they broke, and at this point didn’t want to know. She tossed one of the metal legs at Kyo, catching it with ease as she signaled for him to take one side while she took the other. Both figured that it would be easier to beat them up a little so they could get away. They could see that those students and teachers had the same look as that Kimi girl had, and those eyes were just unsettling.

And without warning, both Kyo and Uo started swinging, knocking them back enough to make a path for both Sohmas to escape. They didn’t want to stick around and find out if they would get in trouble. They ran upstairs, praying that they wouldn’t get caught by one of the teachers they smacked around.

As soon as they felt that they were in a safe area, Haru and Momiji looked at Kyo and Uo, smiling their thanks.

“We need to find Yuki, you guys have any idea where he would be?” Uo asked.

“I know, he’s going to be at the student council room. It’s through that hallway, actually,” Haru pointed down the hall.

They all walked down, there was a sound. At first, it was a bit muffled, but as they got closer it seemed like there was crying and something being hit. They reached the door, instantly recognizing Yuki’s voice. He sounded as if he were about to keel over.

Haru opened the door suddenly, all of them stunned as they saw Yuki on the ground next to two bodies, their heads almost completely smashed. The young prince was caked with blood, sweat, tears, and vomit. His very being stained by the mixture of death. His hair matted with blood as he struggled to breathe through his tears. At this point, he couldn’t even utter a word, even if he wanted to. His chest felt painfully tight as he tried to get air into his lungs. He felt as if he was suffocating.

“Shit,” Haru rushed over to Yuki as he tried to pick him up, “we need to take him to the nurse’s office.”

“No, we don’t,” Kyo spoke harshly.

“Kyo, you’re a fucking ass,” Haru spat darkly.

“Haru, fucking listen to me for a damn second. Whatever is going on in this school is trying to kill us. We already saw people eating each other. If we try and take Yuki with us to the nurse, we’re going to be fucking food. Right now, he’s safer here until he can fucking breathe.”

“Then what do you suggest we do?” Haru spoke with venom in his voice.

“You guys stay here; I’ll get the nurse if I can. If not, I’ll just snatch an inhaler and Yuki can breathe again.”

“Kyo, don’t be stupid, you just-“ Kyo interrupted the blonde.

“I’ll be in and out. If I’m not back in ten minutes, then one of you come get me,” Kyo muttered.

“Then take this, my locker key is right at the nurse’s office. I have a pipe in my locker. Use it just in case because that chair leg isn’t going to do much.”

“Why the hell do you even have a pipe in your locker?”

“Does it matter?” Uo asked.

Kyo took her locker key and memorized her locker number. It was pretty quiet for the moment, something he hoped would work in his favor. He made it to Uo’s locker without anything happening. He opened the locker, making sure that nothing would sneak up on him and grabbed the metal pipe. He closed the locker quickly and made his way to the nurse’s office. The office was dark, as the room smelled almost like fresh blood. Kyo gulped as he slowly made his way in. It seemed like whatever caused that blood was long gone, something that he really wasn’t too thrilled. He started rummaging through the countertops, trying to find something that would help Yuki breathe again. The more he searched, the louder he became, every other word a curse word as he struggled to find an inhaler.

And then, the hair on the back of his neck stood still. He started hearing that odd mix between a wet wheeze and a dry hoarse cough. The same sound that those things were made. He squinted his eyes at the dark corner, unsure if his mind was playing tricks.

“Who’s there?” Kyo spoke.

The figure got closer to Kyo’s voice. He could see it. It was an older woman, part of her face looked as if it had been eaten. Her eyes were dead and glassy. Even though she looked lifeless, her corpse moved as if possessed by devils. Kyo knew who they were. That was the school nurse, and with how she was behaving, the Cat knew damn well that she was going to try and turn him into her next meal ticket.

The nurse threw herself at Kyo, he brought out the pipe trying to block her. She bit at the metal tube trying to get her teeth to sink into Kyo’s flesh. The red-head tried to push her off, stunned that she was stronger than what he would have thought. He felt his arms shake as he kept her at bay. He pushed her back hard enough to see her hit the wall. But it seemed to do nothing to her. Kyo slammed the pipe with some force on her arm. He knew it would be hard enough to bruise the bone and any normal person would have fallen over in pain. Not her. She only had eyes for Kyo.

Kyo fell suddenly when he stepped on a pool of blood, his head hit hard against the floor. This was bad and he knew. He dropped the pipe somewhere and couldn’t see it. The nurse went down with Kyo, the pipe no longer in his hands. He was using all of his strength to keep her from hugging or biting him. His body shaking violently as he struggled to overpower her. He could smell rotting flesh and blood on her. He studied her eyes as he tried to figure out what she really was. Those once warm eyes were hazy and glassy. He remembered one of the times where he and Yuki got into a fight in school, nobody was around to see them, but Yuki had hit him square on the nose. He remembered how his nose just freely bled, what most likely was just a few minutes, to him felt like hours. He remembered how sweet she was, a smile on her face when she greeted every student that would come in, and a worried frown when her students were in because they were hurt. This behavior was nothing like her.

Kyo felt like his strength was losing. He didn’t know how much longer he could hold her off. He looked frantically for anything that could help him. And there it was, a few inches away from him was the pipe he brought in. He was in a risky position that either risked her actually eating part of him or hugging him. And he could feel his heart pounding a million miles a second as he tried to think on his feet. He took a deep breath, and just did it, holding the nurse back with one and grabbing the pipe with the other. He just started swinging. His mind going blank as he felt the pipe hit over and over against her head. And then he felt her body crash on him, limp and truly dead. A strangled gasp left his lips as he forcefully pushed her body off himself. And then the sudden realization, he didn’t turn into a cat. He was thankful for the most part, but then started to look at her body. His eyes were wide with disgust at what was before him. Her head was smashed in, he thought that he had hit her a few times, but looking at her body now, that wasn’t the case. Her head was completely concaved and split open. He could see blood covering both herself and his uniform along with bits of brain matter. And with that, Kyo felt his stomach violently flip, his body rejecting his lunch earlier the day.

He killed her. Even though he was in a situation where his family was going to lock him up forever, if anybody saw this, he knew that he was going to be locked up. There was no way around it. He was going to jail for murder. And all he could do was just throw up. His fear was uncontrollable.

“Kyo,” a voice called out.

Kyo turned, seeing his homeroom teacher, his heart sinking even more. She was going to call the police on him now.

“I didn’t mean- she attacked me- I’m so sorry Mss. Mayu!”

“Are you okay?”

Kyo nodded, unsure of what she was asking him.

“Are you alone, Kyo?”

“No. Uotami, Haru, Momiji, and Yuki are at the Student Council room. Hanajima and Honda are up on the roof. I came here because Yuki is having an asthma attack and I can’t find an inhaler.”

The teacher sighed as she went to the body, she seemed completely uninterested at the fact that Kyo had literally smashed her head in and he was holding the murder weapon. She smiled, giving a small ‘yes’ as she seemed to have found what she was looking for. A small set of keys.

“These are the keys to the medicine cabinets. They would have what we need for Yuki.”

Kyo snatched it as he started trying to open the locked cabinets. Eventually, he was able to find an inhaler and some other things that he figured might help Yuki. Even though he hated the guy, he wasn’t going to be an asshole to him. Especially when the shit going on was way weirder than what they normally dealt with.

“Let’s go. It’s not safe being in an area like this,” his teacher spoke.

And with that, they were off. It didn’t take much time for them to reach the Student Council room. Haru was trying his best to keep Yuki as calm as possible as this was a really bad attack Yuki was having. The last time he had an attack like this, he was sent to the hospital.

“Sorry it took so long,” Kyo spoke as he tossed the stuff to Haru.

“Thanks,” Haru smiled, “Yuki, look what Kyo found.”

Yuki looked at the bag, finding an inhaler and a plastic chamber. As much as he hated using those things, he grabbed them quickly, attaching the chamber to the inhaler, and started taking shallow breaths. He could feel his lungs finally opening up again, although a little slower than normal. Once he was able to take somewhat deeper breaths, he took the inhaler off the plastic chamber tube and used the inhaler again. He sighed in relief as he could finally breathe again.

“Thank you,” Yuki spoke almost out of breath.

“Whatever, we need to get back to the roof or Tohru’s going to worry herself to oblivion,” Kyo muttered.


	2. Chapter 2

The moon was full as the howls of the dead rang through the cold night air. Their teacher was up keeping watch over her students trying to get some rest. Today, all of them had gone through things no person should have to face. She had pulled some of them aside to try and assess what happened. And from all of them, it was Yuki, Momiji, Haru and Kyo that broke her heart the most. Yuki had killed his best friends in the student council. The look in his eyes as he told her only showed how broken and lost he felt. And Kyo explaining how he felt like a monster for killing the school nurse. He felt terrible but was make sense of it all. He was swearing up and down that it was either Kyo or her, and the young boy was being honest with her, he didn’t want to die. And then Momiji telling her that his parents and sister were visiting his mom’s family in Berlin. The news was going on about how all over the world was like this now. Some countries were worse than others. Europe was in extremely bad shape with this crazy thing going on. The chances of his family being alive in this and in a huge city like Berlin. But then Haru had the complete opposite reaction from Yuki and Kyo. He seemed like he was a kid in a candy shop. They needed to clear this floor and the rooftop and Haru was having a blast as he attacked the students and teachers that were bitten.

It broke her heart seeing these students, still, children, face this much pain and horror. The student body president was just keeping to himself, quiet with wide eyes. If he did speak, he was blunt and to the point, completely different from his typical dance with words. But something he said stuck to her. Those that were bitten are dead. They came back to life. And they wanted to eat other humans. Occasionally, he would break down and cry. Even though she knew that Kyo and Yuki got along well with each other like water and oil and would have been more than happy to pick on him over crying, Kyo kept quiet.

Mayu’s head snapped at the direction of the students, seeing one of them stir awake. It was Haru. He had a scared look to his eyes. He spotted her with a look of confusion before making his way to her.

“Miss. Mayu, why are we still in school?”

“Sohma, it’s dangerous right now,” she whispered as to not wake up the other students.

“Can I call my parents?”

“Do you have your phone?”

“Yeah, I just didn’t want to bring it out in case if I got in trouble,” he spoke softly.

“Go ahead,” Mayu smiled, “and if you have any of the other’s parents and guardian’s phone numbers, call them too.”

Haru nodded as he took out his phone. He went through his contacts and found one of his father’s number. It rang. Once. Twice. Three times.

“Dad! Yeah, I’m alright. Momiji, Yuki, Kyo, Tohru, and one of the teachers with two of Tohru’s friends. Only Tohru. Where’s mom, Rin, and Kisa? Thank you. Oh, do you know if Shigure is at the Main House? He is? Where is he? Oh. Aya is there too? Figured he'd be watching over Akito. Okay. I’ll see if I can call you tomorrow in the morning.”

And with that, Haru hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket. Bits of pieces of the day were starting to come back to him. Blood everywhere. Him laughing. Heads smashing. Momiji and Yuki crying. Tohru looking lost. And all that was on his mind was fear that something happened to Rin. But now, she was alright. When they could, they would need to make it to the Sohma Estate. It was the safest place he could think of. He figured that while this mess was still going on, he was going to be more Black than White. It was probably for the best.

“Haru, shut up and go back to sleep,” Kyo grunted.

“Miss. Mayu, it’s already 4 in the morning, you need to sleep,” Haru spoke.

Kyo heard what Haru said and stood up, rubbing his eyes to wake up better.

“Miss. Mayu, you should get some sleep. Haru and I can keep watch for the rest of the night.”

“You don’t have to, you’re both growing boys and you need your sleep.”

“It’s alright, I normally wake up at five anyway. Haru, you stay here, I’m going to do a perimeter check to make sure that none of the *Shisha didn’t break any of our defenses we set up yesterday.”

Haru nodded, a smirk on his face. Kyo rolled his eyes as he grabbed Uo’s pipe by the door and walked out. Kyo went to the end of the hall where the stairs were. They didn’t look like they had been moved or anything, which was a good thing. His heart was pounding uncontrollably. Yuki’s words were glue to him during one of his crying fits. They die and come back. Aim for the head and they’re dead. It made sense. The nurse was already dead when he got there. But the strength she had was not human. He struggled to overpower her, even though he had been in martial arts class since he was five years old. His body was stronger than most guys his age, even though he was more agile than anything else. Although, sometimes, he liked to think it was because of the cat spirit inside him.

The world was over. During the day, they were looking at their phones of streams with the current news. Everywhere was like this. There were already rumors of people like the Presidents and royal families being bitten, although no country would ever acknowledge that their world leader was now sinking their teeth into human flesh. He wondered how his dad was doing and how the dojo was holding up. He hadn’t heard from him in a few weeks and every time he tried to call, his call would be sent to voice mail automatically.

Kyo sighed as he finished up his rounds. He walked over to the boy’s restrooms quick to relieve himself. He was so focused on making sure that everything was safe that he forgot that his bladder was about to burst.  Kyo was thankful that they were able to use PE uniforms as sleeping clothes. They were a lot more comfortable than their regular school uniforms, although Momiji said that the girls’ uniform was a million times more comfortable than the boys’.

Kyo relaxed as he finished, washed his hands and went back to the room. By this point, he saw that the only people sleeping were the teacher, Yuki, and Momiji. Kyo saw Yuki holding Momiji tightly, almost as if their German cousin was his lifeline.

“Poor Yuki,” Tohru whispered as she saw how he clung to Momiji.

“He was doing that with me last night,” Haru spoke lazily.

“He’ll get over it or die,” Kyo spoke bluntly, “Everybody had a shit day yesterday, he’s not special.”

“Kyo,” Tohru whispered.

“Damn, Carrot Top, that’s harsh,” Uo whistled.

“It’s fucking true, Yankee. We all had to kill one of those things yesterday, even Tohru,” Kyo was getting angry.

“Kyo, stop, you’re scaring Tohru,” Hana spoke.

“I’m not going to fucking die because Little Prince Crybaby killed some stupid Shisha and now he can’t with this mess. I’ll fucking end him if he gets us killed.”

“Give him some time, Kyo,” Haru spoke darkly.

“Blow it out your ass, Haru. If Rin was here and his bullshit put her at danger, how are you going to deal with it?” Kyo got dangerously close to Haru’s face, “Haru, how I see it, if he puts Tohru in danger because he can’t act, I’ll fucking kill him.”

Haru punched Kyo in his face hard. Tohru let out a small yelp at the sight before Kyo went at him. Kyo’s movements were almost like water. Kyo landed blows on Haru as they continued fighting. The others woke up from the noise, Mayu quickly got in the middle of them. Kyo accidentally hit her and instantly regretted it. Haru still tried to get at the Cat.

Haru felt somebody touch his arm. He was about to hit them when he realized who it was.

“Please, stop,” Yuki spoke.

And as quick as his anger came, it left like a summer rainstorm.

“Kyo, you’re a real ass, you know that?” Uo stated bluntly.

“I’m the ass now?”

“Not everybody bounces back from this shit like you,” Uo spat.

“Haru, what’s going on? Why were you and Kyo fighting?” Momiji questioned.

“Kyo was saying stupid things,” Haru mused, “sorry for waking you up.”

“Fuck this-“

“Kyo, language,” Mayu shouted.

“I’m clearing out the floor under us. We need to get to the school kitchen in order to survive. Unlike them, we can’t eat each other.”

“Kyo you can’t do that by yourself,” Tohru cried out.

“Whatever,” Kyo muttered, “You all do what you want.”

He grabbed the pipe and walked out the door again, trying to keep his anger under control. He needed to focus on what was important. One- Food. Two- Water. Three- No Shisha. Four- With Shisha, aim for the head. If he kept those things in mind, he would survive. Even if the world was falling apart, he would make damn sure that he would survive.

Kyo made his way to the barricade, seeing that now some of the Shisha had shown up. This was perfect. All he had to do was open it up just enough for one of them to come through. And then he would be able to kill them one at a time. It was perfect.

“Kyo,” he heard Yuki call out to him.

“Fuck off, Rat Boy,” Kyo hissed.

“You don’t have a single right to say that shit. Yester-” Yuki was interrupted.

“I do, Rat. Everybody had a shit day yesterday.”

“You don’t understand,” Yuki spat.

“Oh, I do though. Now if you’ll excuse me, I gotta kill some Shisha. Go back to the room, you’re just going to get in the way.”

Kyo went back to breaking down part of the barricade. He ignored the Rat as he was careful to not get too close to the Shisha as he set up the barricade for him to kill them.  The Shisha unnerved the cat as they made their raspy hiss.

“Kyo, let me help, you stupid Cat.”

“Fuck off,” Kyo said in annoyance.

“You’re saying that I’m the one who’s going to get everybody killed, but here you are doing that just fine!” Yuki snapped.

Kyo ignored Yuki while he pulled some of the desks blocking the stairs. As he pulled, one of the dead grabbed Kyo’s arm, unable to bite him because of the obstacles. Kyo grabbed the pipe, slamming it on the hand that had him, and with a sickly snap and squirt of blood, the hand was detached from the dead but was still like a deadlocked on Kyo’s arm.

“Kyo, stop!” Yuki yelled as he punched him in the gut.

Kyo felt the air knocked out of him as he fell over. Yuki was over his body, his “I’m the Rat and I’m better than you” look plastered on his face. His face was flushed with anger as he sat next to Kyo. They needed to clear the air between them, whether he wanted to or not. But some of what Kyo said, even if he didn’t want to admit it, was right. The way he was behaving was putting everybody at risk. Even though his heart felt like it was shattered into a billion of tiny pieces and those pieces only got smaller the more he thought about Machi, he was somehow still alive. And if he wanted to keep it that way, he and Kyo NEEDED to bury the hatchet over being the Rat and the Cat.

“You said that my crying and breakdown was going to kill everybody. And you’re right. Everybody suffered yesterday,” Yuki spoke.

Kyo looked at Yuki, stunned at what he was hearing. Never in his own life did he ever think that Yuki would be saying that he agreed with what he said. Both Kyo and Yuki would always be on opposite sides of everything. If Yuki said the sky was blue, Kyo would say that it was purple just to piss him off. If it was hot, then it was cold. Always opposite, very rarely would they be on the same page.

“But Tohru made a point after you stepped out of the room. If you are so worried about surviving this world, then this fight between you and me,” Yuki looked at Kyo seriously, “This whole Cat vs Rat Zodiac Curse resentment that we have towards each other is going to get us killed, and it will get them killed.”

Kyo sat up as he was able to breathe again. He listened to Yuki, his blood boiling over. Tohru was right. They were going to kill each other in this new world, and it was going to kill them too. And that was what made him angry.

“So, I’ll start. I hate how you are trying to get into a family that I’m trying to get out of. Our family is so fucking toxic. I hope that most of them are dead and become those things. They are evil people and they deserve that fate.” Yuki stated bluntly, “And even though you are the Cat, you are so good with getting into people’s social circles.”

Kyo snorted out a laugh as he heard Yuki speak. He never heard Yuki say even one nice thing to him, and here he was saying that there was something that Kyo could do better than him.

“You make their shit days better when you aren’t busy trying to outdo me,” Yuki continued, “I can’t get into social circles with normal people like you can. Every time I try, it feels like I’m just walking on eggshells. If I do this, will I be seen as an ass? If I say this, will people think I’m friendly? If I get close to her, will I turn into a rat? Would she care if I was the rat? Would she still give me a chance? Would she be happy?”

“Yuki,” Kyo was starting to get uncomfortable, “slow down, the last ones are starting to sound like things I don’t want to know.”

“Kyo, you said that everybody had a shit day yesterday killing our teachers and fellow students. Yesterday, I had to kill a girl that I was planning on asking out. I was head over heels in love with her. And I saw her die and turn. Yesterday I was crying because I felt responsible for her death. Yesterday, I sent one of the student body council members to get help. Yesterday, I killed my best friend after he killed his sister, the girl that I was crushing on. Yesterday, I wanted to die with her because I didn’t want to be alone without her. And now, I’m here.”

“I’m sorry, you went through that,” Kyo muttered.

“You didn’t know,” Yuki sighed softly.

“If it makes you feel any better, even though I don’t know who that girl was, she’d have said yes to you, better than what the girl who I like would say.”

“What do you mean?” Yuki asked.

“The girl I like, I know won’t ever go for me. There’s a guy who is a million times better than me, and he’s too much of a dumbass to realize it.”

“Is she still alive?” Yuki asked.

Kyo thought for a bit before changing the subject, “So that’s why you have an issue with me? Because I am not able to be part of the family even though I am clearly a member?”

“Yeah, you get to have a life, even if you have it in that cage,” Yuki muttered the last part more to himself than for Kyo.

“Then you want to know why I hate you. It’s because you are accepted. Your parents are still around. Mine aren’t. Have you been blamed for somebody’s death? Have you been blamed for destroying a marriage of two people who were happy? Have you ever felt like the world was better off with you dead?

“Everybody in the family blamed me for everything. Simply for existing. And no, I don’t get to live, like you, Yuki, “Yuki flinched at Kyo’s words, “After graduation, because you HAVE to be better at everything, I was going to be sent to that cage, and Akito told me that if I beat you, I would be spared from it. You had the choice to stop it, but you didn’t. Before this,” Kyo waved his arms to gesture the end of the world, “your life was perfect. The heartthrob of the school, President of the Student Council, the prodigy child on just about every fucking thing. If this was a show, you would have been some writer’s wet dream of a self-insert. I fucking hate you because from where I was standing, I could have found the cure for cancer, and the family would congratulate you for drawing a stick figure.”

“Kyo, my life was far from perfect. Because I am the Rat, everybody expected me to be perfect. If I slipped up even once, my mother would beat me.

“My mother,” Yuki was struggling to talk, “my mother sold me to Akito for a few years just so she could have a higher standing in the family. The shit that family put me through.”

Why couldn’t he find those words? He hated his mother. He hated Akito. He hated his father. He hated almost every single person in the family at most, and besides one or two people that he genuinely cared about, felt indifferent. But even with those feelings inside him, the Rat Sprite inside him skewed his feelings for them. And he hated himself for feeling the way he did towards them.

“I’m sorry that the Rat tricked the Cat, I really am Kyo. But I’m not the Rat, just like you aren’t the Cat. I’m Yuki, and you’re Kyo. And we are just people trying to survive the end of the world.”

Kyo stood up, giving his hand to Yuki, a smirk on his face as Yuki took it.

“I’m sorry that I was being a dick,” Kyo stated.

“You’re fine. I was one too,” Yuki spoke, “And if you told me about that deal, I would have lost a fight in front of Akito for you.”

Kyo shook his head as if to tell him that it was done. Kyo saw that on the ground, a wooden table leg. He came here to help him get part of the area cleaned out. If they could get the next two stories cleared, they would be in good condition. That’s where some of the classes like Shop and Home Economics classes were. It’s where the Nurse’s room was. If they were lucky and were able to clear up the entire building, then they could start taking showers and doing their own laundry. Everybody needed something to make this feel somewhat normal. They were going to be here for a while. Maybe a month. Maybe two. Maybe a year. He didn’t know but they needed to get this building cleared out as fast as possible. The faster they got it done, the better it would be for everyone’s safety and sanity.

Kyo finally got an opening large enough for one of the Shisha to come out. Yuki swung the chair leg as strong as he could against their head, blood splattered as it hit the wall and both boys. Kyo started to bang the pipe on the wall and metal of one of the tables, getting the attention of the other Shisha. As soon as they stepped in front of him, Kyo swung the pipe over his own head, slamming the pipe on top of its head with great force. Kyo wrinkled his nose as he spat on the floor. He hated how those things smelled. They smelled like death. He looked at them intensely. Their skin was starting to turn grey, almost as if they had just died. Maybe they did. Last night they heard so many screams of the living. He remembered how he saw Tohru running to the roof to get away from the sounds of people who were dying. He remembered how even though he hated having to hug others, he held her close to his body. He remembered how their bodies were enveloped into a puff of smoke before she was holding him in his cat form.

He hated seeing her like this. And if turning into a cat would help her cheer up a bit, then he would do it. Tohru was too kind of a person to have to suffer like this. And he was willing to protect her. If it meant that he was devoured alive by those dead things, just so she could live, he would.

“We need to get someone to come over here and keep watch in case if any get caught up here,” Kyo stated.

“I’ll keep watch here and you go get one anybody who wants to help,” Yuki stated casually.

Kyo began to make his way to the class before he stopped, turning to the Rat, “We’re cool?”

“Yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Shisha- Japanese for Dead Ones  
> I apologize for forgetting to leave a footnote about this. I feel so embarrassed.


	3. Chapter 3

“Dinner is ready,” Tohru smiled as she had some bowls with curry ready for everybody.

The food smelled delicious, as the aroma of spices filled the air as some of the group made their way to the main classroom they were staying at. Haru walked in as he grabbed his bowl and began eating. Today, Kyo and Yuki were all stars. They managed to clear out most of the floor below them. It seemed that the majority of the classrooms were swarming with Shisha. It was a bit of a double-edged sword with that information. It was good because they could calmly assess the best course of action in clearing the rooms. They managed to move the barricade further down now that they knew how to handle it.

To think that earlier in the day, Kyo was threatening to kill Yuki and now, they were working together. This really was the end of the world. Everybody in the family would always joke about how the only way those two would ever get along as if the world was thrown into hell. Jokes on them, it would seem. The world was thrown into a random circle of hell and Kyo and Yuki was finally able to toss aside their own differences. Too bad the end of the world had to happen in order for them to actually get along.

“Where’s Kyo and Yuki?” Mayu asked as she grabbed a bowl.

“Yuki said he’s doing a perimeter check,” Momiji said as he started eating.

“And Carrot Top?” Uo questioned.

“Probably up on the rooftop.”

“I’ll get him his bowl then,” Tohru smiled as she grabbed a bowl of food for Kyo.

She walked out, seeing Yuki heading towards the room. She let him know that there was a bowl ready for him and to go ahead and eat. He thanked her as he wiped away the blood and sweat from his face. He figured that he would go wash up before he would eat.

Tohru made it to the roof, seeing Kyo just laying down watching the clouds in the sunset. He just sighed as he tried to relax. Even though the world had ended, this was one of the things the Shisha would never take from him. They would never be able to take away his peace under the sky in rooftops. He felt as if he were about to pass out.

“Kyo, are you awake?” Tohru asked as she stepped closer to him.

“Yeah, just clearing my head,” Kyo sighed as he sat up.

“I brought you some food.”

“Thanks, I’m starving. I’m just glad we were able to clear out the Home Ec class. At least now we can get decent food.”

Tohru sat down next to him as they gazed at the scenery. Some places were still on fire from yesterday while other areas looked like they might have caught fire today. The sky was smeared with blood red oranges, deep royal purples, dandelion yellows with thick black smoke as if the sky was a painting on a canvas. The ground touched with reckless abandonment as they knew full well that they were temporarily safe in here and everybody outside was not. This was a world that was turned into a Us vs Them mentality. Living vs Dead. But deep down, Kyo knew that there was going to be a possibility that they would have to leave the school. They needed to be ready for that day, even if they didn’t want to face it. Kyo was happy that for the most part, they were able to get the major areas downstairs cleared of the Shisha. They were able to find a good set of kitchen knives in the Home Ec class. Even though Kyo wanted to use them for attacking the Shisha faster, Tohru wanted to use them for actual cooking. Even though he wanted to tell her no, he also knew that today he made a huge ass out of himself earlier today with being a dick to Yuki.

It was weird, he never thought that Yuki and he would end up making peace. They were always at each other’s throats growing up. They fought almost every single time that they saw each other. Kyo remembered back when they were little, the moment that they first met, it was nothing but pure violence. He remembered how the only time he landed a punch on Yuki. Yuki’s mother saw it. She grabbed Kyo violently by the arm, digging her sharp nails against his skin, calling him a mangy cat. She dragged him to his parents, demanding that they needed to lock him up like the wild animal that he was. His mother apologized sincerely, making him do the same to both her and Yuki. Kyo’s father smacked him around a bit while his mother got in the way of his beating. After he was done, he remembered how his mom would just cry as she rubbed his back. So many times, he would end up hugging her in an attempt to cheer her up, unsure if it would be effective. He wondered if him landing a hit on Yuki caused a huge fight with his own parents.

Kyo shook that thought out of his head. It was a long time ago, in a distant world that no longer existed now. He looked down at his food, the soft fluffy rice was the perfect bed for the curry Tohru made. It smelled delicious, especially when he had been busy with the Shisha and their deathly stink.

Kyo took a bite out of the food, tears almost streaming down his face. He didn’t even realize how hungry he was. The last time he ate was when they were having breakfast before school yesterday. He ended up eating some egg and ham on some toast because he had to head over to the school a little earlier in order to get some notes for one of his classes. It didn’t help him much that he didn’t even get to fully digest it when he uphurled his meal after dealing with the Nurse yesterday.

His stomach roared as he began stuffing his face, not even giving himself time to actually chew. He coughed every other bite as he tried to keep it from going down the wrong pipe, smacking his own chest as if that would even help him. Tohru’s cooking was just amazing, although, at this moment, he was so hungry that he wasn’t even able to fully enjoy it.

“Kyo, there’s seconds if you want,” Tohru smiled as Kyo frowned at his empty bowl.

“Okay, I’m starving,” Kyo smirked as he stood up and followed her to the room.

Everybody was eating silently, almost unsure of how to even process what has been happening. He walked over to the teacher’s desk where there was still more food. He grabbed a bit more rice and curry before making his way to his cousins. He took a bite, trying to eat it slower and enjoy the meal Tohru had made. Her food felt as if nothing had changed. He closed his eyes, and took a bite, feeling as if the dead weren’t coming back to life. They were not in school. They were in Shigure’s house. The Dog just came back from the Main House. Kyo could almost hear laughter or were they the cries of destruction from outside the school. He opened his eyes. He knew he never left.

“Did you call the main house, Haru?” Momiji asked.

“I called really early in the morning my dad. He said that everybody was alright. Akito is sick, but that’s nothing new if we’re being honest.”

Haru looked at the other survivors. He didn’t know much about them other than that they were Tohru’s friends. They had families; he was sure of. And they hadn’t seen them since the world ended. Unlike them, he was able to get a hold of them somehow. Haru excused himself before he walked over to Tohru and the girls and sat down.

“Do you have a phone?” Haru asked them.

They shook their heads, saying that they just didn’t have one or that their phone was back at home because they never took it with them to school. He pulled out his phone and put his password on. He set his phone up so they could call their parents and handed the phone to Saki.

Saki had tears in her eyes as she began dialing her family. Her father’s phone went straight to voice mail a few times. She then called her mom. Tears streaming as she heard that familiar voice crying.

“Mommy, it’s me Saki,” Saki was crying now, “I’m alright. I’m with Tohru, Uo, and some friends. I left my phone at home; I’m using one of my friend’s cell. Are Megumi and dad alright? I tried calling Dad. What? I see. Keep him, safe mom, please. I love you, mommy,” and Saki hung up.

She handed the phone to Haru with a whispered thank you before she ran out of the room crying. Uo and Tohru rushed after her. Based on her reaction, somebody in her family didn’t make it. Kyo looked down at his rice bowl. His mom was already dead, so at least he had the comfort of knowing that she wouldn’t be subjected to this horror. And knowing his father, he’d probably find a way to blame the whole end of the world on Kyo’s very birth. So, if he had some Shisha eating his face, it would have been well deserved.

“Miss. Hanajima,” Yuki called out when the three came back, “is everything alright?”

Hana rubbed her hands on her eyes nodding, “Yeah, I just found out that my father became a Shisha yesterday. My mother and brother are safe though.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Momiji whispered softly.

“It’s alright. He died protecting my mother and brother,” Saki smiled weakly.

It was almost unnerving seeing her like that. She was able to handle her emotions so well. Her mask a delicate display of neutrality. But right now, she was trying to hold everything together as her world shattered from all sides like a broken mirror. Even though her smile said that everything was alright, her voice was shaking and weak as if she was falling from a cliff of depression into a sea of anxiety.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-” Haru started.

“No, don’t apologize,” Hana spoke, “I’m just thankful that I know what’s happening.”

“Haru, can I use your phone to call my family?” Uo asked.

 

~*~

Kyo was in the library looking over the books, the pipe in his hand. Uo told him that he could borrow her pipe whenever since it was him, Haru, and Yuki that was focusing more on getting out and cleaning up the Shisha. The library was a fountain of knowledge. There were books on surviving out in the wilderness, to even some pre-med books. The last one surprised him greatly since these were books for college when this was a high school. But then again, there were students here that were already getting a jump start on their college education and would study things like this. He grabbed the books and made his way to the room again, making sure that none of the Shisha that was already locked up would come out.

The room was dimly lit with the flashlight he carried with him. Every little sound brought a shiver down his spine. Even though he knew that there was no way one of the Shisha would be in the library, it didn’t stop Kyo’s mind from running wild at the very thought that one was just right around the corner, or behind him. His heart pounded furiously as he felt his body clam up. He focused his thoughts on his breathing. Breathing in, two, three, four. Out, two, three, four. In, two, three, four. Out, two, three, four. After a few rounds of this, he felt his heart slow down as he sat down on the floor. He pointed the light at the floor, seeing dried up blood and a few dead Shisha.

One of the things Kyo noticed during the day was that the more of the Shisha blood and viscera that they were covered in, the less interested they were of them. It could prove to be useful. They needed to figure out things like this. Would they attack animals? And if they did, would they have to be out in the open like a human or did they have to be injured? If they didn’t care for animals, would they care for them if he and his cousins were in their zodiac animal forms? If they didn’t, then their curse just became their trump card for survival. Yuki was the rat and it would be easier for him to sneak into places for surveillance. Momiji was the rabbit and was quick as a whip in his animal form and would be a good fit with Yuki’s abilities. Hatsuharu was the Ox and they were strong and sturdy animals.

Kyo opened the door to see that everybody was already sleeping. Everybody but Miss. Mayu. She looked at him sweetly as she looked at the moon outside along with the burning fires outside. She had her shoulders slumped over as she pressed her fingers between eyes, almost as if she had a pressure headache. She looked almost defeated. She was the only adult here while they were the students. They looked to her for guidance and how could she lead them when she honestly had no idea how to even handle this? Most of the students in this school were dead. Most of their families were dead or dying.

“Miss. Mayu, can I ask you something?” Kyo asked.

“Oh, Sohma, how can I help you?”

“I was looking through the library,” Kyo started, “and found some books that might help us.”

“Can I see?”

Kyo handed the books to his teacher as she skimmed through them quickly.

“You did an amazing job, Kyo. Tomorrow, I’ll see if I can set up a class with these,” Mayu looked at the pre-med books, “However, I think these might be a little too advanced for everybody, even me.”

“I’ll study them then. Somebody needs to have some kind of basic understanding of how medicine works. Even if it’s just simple things, and these books might help,” Kyo muttered.

“Alright. I’ll let you hold onto those ones then,” she smiled.

“Do you think you can help me study it though? Even if you don’t think you’ll be much help?”

“Yeah, I’d be more than happy to help you, but it’s getting late Kyo. You need to sleep.”

“What about you?” Kyo questioned as he cocked his head a bit.

“I’ll be fine,”

“You need to sleep too.”

“Tell you what, Kyo,” Mayu smiled, “you go to sleep now, and in a few hours, I’ll wake you up. You do this for a few hours and then you wake somebody else up. That way, everybody gets some decent sleep.”

“Fair enough,” Kyo sighed as he walked over to his cousins.

Kyo grabbed one of the space blankets they had grabbed from one of the classrooms. As uncomfortable as they were, they were decent enough for them to work. They kept them warm enough at night. The only real downfall was that every little movement made the blankets crinkle. He laid down on the ground trying to go to sleep. His mind was still trying to process how the world ended.

That day before the end of the world, he woke up. Went for a morning run. He had a good breakfast that Tohru made. Shigure was giving him crap for appearing “mean” to Tohru. He went to school. He and Yuki got into an argument. He took a test in his math class. He snuck onto the roof to catch his breath from classes, enjoying the fresh breeze. He went back to class. He cleaned up the classroom. Went home. Took a shower. Jerked off in the shower. Cleaned up the mess. Went to his room. Changed into his pjs. Went to the roof to look at the moon. Went back to his room. And went to sleep. And he would rinse and repeat those days if he had school.

Yesterday was a break of normality. He got up. Went to for a quick run in the morning. Grabbed some toast and egg for breakfast and headed to school early. Studied before school started. Went to his first class. Had some more classes. Hana forced him, Uo, and Tohru to go to the roof. The Shisha were attacking. Uo and he went to find Haru, Momiji, and Yuki. They found everybody. Yuki was having an asthma attack. Kyo, for some stupid reason, went to get Yuki some medicine. Fought a Shisha. Threw up. Found Miss. Mayu. Went back to the room where everybody was. Got the medicine to Yuki. Went to the roof. They discussed what to do. They killed some of the Shisha. They went to sleep.

But now, he just couldn’t sleep. Kyo had his eyes closed, trying to trick Miss. Mayu into thinking that he was sleeping. He wanted to sleep. His body wouldn’t let him and it drove him crazy. He turned away from his teacher just so he could open his eyes. He was looking at his cousins, Yuki, Haru, and Momiji were all huddled together, Yuki in the middle between the two. He saw Haru stir a little looking at Kyo softly.

“Kyo, come over here,” Haru whispered, “you’ll be warmer if you sleep with us.”

Kyo nodded slowly as he scooted closer to his cousins, feeling himself fall into a restless sleep.

~*~

The cold night air smelled fresh of decaying foliage, almost sweet and musky along with the mix that was undoubtedly Shisha. The cool air stung his skin like a thousand angry hornets. His chest felt like fire ants were about to rupture out. His legs burned as he ran.

Kyo didn’t know how he made it to the woods near Shigure’s home. He closed his eyes when he was in school and the next thing he knew, he was running through the woods. His heart pounded as he ran. The woods had an unsettling mist weaving through the trees, almost as if it was a hand trying to snatch at him. He could hear Shisha. The wheezy breathing. The raspy screams. The sounds of breaking branches mixing with his uneven breathes. Kyo wasn’t sure if the scratches he felt were the nails of the Shisha or if it was the branches swatting at him as if he were a fly.

Kyo tripped over something, he wasn’t sure if it was a random log, some kind of root, or if it was his own feet. But whatever it was, he felt his body crash hard against the forest floor, tumbling down a random hill. He was desperately trying to keep getting back up on his feet. He had to stay on his toes. If he didn’t, he would die. He needed to survive. He had to survive.

Kyo’s decent was halted by a strong base of a tree, knocking the air out of him as he felt himself spit forcefully. His body was disorientated as he struggled to stand, desperately trying to find his footing while keeping his coughing to a minimum. They could hear him. He knew that. Any little cough. Any little sneeze. Any little sound. It meant game over. He could hear them approaching, his heart sank to the base of his stomach. He needed to run. Anyway, so long as it was away from them. He wasn’t going to get bitten. Not now. Not later. Not ever. He would fight to the death if he had to. He would take off his bracelet if it meant saving himself and the others.

He wanted to scream for help. But he knew that screaming would only spell his doom if there was nobody nearby to assist. The only purpose his screaming would serve would be as a dinner bell for the Shisha. All he could do was run. He ran. And he ran. And he ran. And he ran. And he ran. Running. Stumbling. Begging for this to end. He could feel his chest burning as he was reaching his limit. He knew that he was very athletic, but even this was pushing his limits to the break. He needed to find a safe place. He needed to find the others. They had to be here. They just had to. He couldn’t be alone. There was no way he could. His own fear and will to survive was the only thing that kept him from just stopping. He knew full well that he simply couldn’t stop. Not unless if he wanted to die.

And then, there on the clearing. He saw two figures. His heart almost leaped with joy. He could see their general outline, faces turned away from him. Yuki and Tohru. They were safe. He felt tears stinging his face as he saw Tohru and even Yuki. This was good. This increased all of their chances to survive. They needed to find everybody else. They needed to regroup. They needed to get a game plan. They needed to find out how to survive this Shisha infested forest.

“Guys, I’m so fucking happy to see you,” Kyo smiled as he stood behind them, trying to catch his breath.

Suddenly, Kyo felt a sharp pain on his shoulder, looking up his face wrenched in horror. Yuki’s face dripped with fresh blood as, his eyes lifeless and glazed over. He could see on his arm a nasty bite. He looked to see Tohru. She too in the same condition. Her skin almost greyed completely. Her body was beaten and bruised. Those bright brown eyes were hazy and yellowed. Her sweet sugary voice was now a hollow husk. Her leg almost mutilated as he could see a bone sticking out.

“Kyo,” a raspy sickly voice oozed from Tohru’s body before Kyo got a good look of teeth coming after his face.

~*~

Kyo bolted upright, a strangled cry erupting from his throat. His breathing heavy as his body drenched in sweat. He is head was pounding violently as he felt a few tears escape, as he grabbed his head. He felt his body trying to get air into his lungs, his anxiety was at its height.

“Kyo, Yuki!” Kyo heard Tohru cry out.

Kyo opened his eyes as he saw Yuki covering his face. Kyo looked at his hands, they were completely covered in blood. His eyes widened in horror, stunned at what just happened; his dream still fresh in his mind. Kyo felt himself begin to hyperventilate; his mind still not fully aware that he had just woken up from a nightmare.

“Kyo, relax, it’s just a nick,” Haru spoke as he touched Kyo’s should.

Kyo flinched suddenly as he grabbed Haru’s arm, throwing him over his shoulder.

Kyo was breathing heavily as he tried to figure out where he was. Earlier, he was in the classroom. Then he was in the woods. He saw Tohru and Yuki. Yuki bit his shoulder. Tohru was about to bite him. He suddenly found himself somewhere completely different. He couldn’t figure it out. His mind was reeling uncontrollably.

“Kyo, relax!” Yuki shouted.

Kyo looked up, seeing Yuki with a bloody nose. His eyes darted at his form. He was searching for the bite. It was on his shoulder. Nothing. But his nose was bloody. Or was it? He grabbed Yuki by the arm, trying to rip his cousin’s shirt off. Yuki was screaming for him to get off of him.

“Show me your fucking bite,” Kyo was screaming.

“What are you talking about, I wasn’t bitten, idiot!”

“Yes, you were, you fucking bit me!”

“You slammed your head on my face,” Yuki yelled back, “if I fucking bit you, would I be talking to you right now!?”

And that’s when Kyo froze. He looked at Yuki closer. His eyes. They still showed signs of life. He saw a bit of Yuki’s shoulder blade. No blemish. No mark. No bite. Yuki was safe. Yuki wasn’t bitten. Kyo got off him, apologizing quickly for his outburst, as he felt his face heat up from the sheer embarrassment.

“Kyo, this is the first time I’ve seen you wake up late,” Momiji spoke, are you alright?”

Kyo shrugged, “I had a bad dream, sorry.”

“What was it about, Carrot Top?” Uo asked as she passed Kyo some breakfast.

Kyo accepted it before continuing, “I was running from Shisha. And Yuki was one too. He bit me. And,” Kyo stayed silent.

Tohru. She was one too. At least in his dream. But she wasn’t like the other Shisha. She actually spoke before she probably killed him in his dream. He wasn’t sure if maybe she really did say something or if it was just one of those dream things. But the dream felt so real.

“And what else happened?” Hana questioned.

“Somebody else was with Yuki. Another Shisha, I think. I’m not sure,” Kyo muttered, unsure now if it even was Tohru in his dream.

“So, you threw me over your shoulder because you thought I was a Shisha?”

“Sorry Haru,” Kyo muttered under his breath, his face flushed from embarrassment and adrenaline.

Kyo looked at the room, the sun was already out. It was late. Normally, he would have been up before the sun would be even up. But he figured that today and with the stress, his body just crashed and took the extra hours of sleep that he needed to function better.

He looked at the plate that Uo handed him. Some toast, with egg and ham. It looked good. Better than the meal that Shisha would want, that’s for sure. Kyo took a bite of the toast, as he looked at the door opening, their teacher coming back in as she wiped sweat and Shisha blood from her face.


	4. Chapter 4

Last night was rough. It had been a bit over a month since the end of the world and last night ended with a doozy. Last night, it took everything for Yuki, Momiji and him to keep Haru from exploding and running right to the Sohma estate. They lost permanent connection with the outside world now. Not just the estate. Haru had called his dad. He had it on speaker phone for us to hear, regretting it almost instantly. In the background, there was a lot of screaming along with the sounds of Shisha. They all heard his father getting bitten. Haru was screaming. Almost as if that was the only thing that could reverse time. Kyo, Yuki, and Momiji were wrestling him to the ground, trying to get him to stop and think. The estate was now one of the worst places they could go to. The inner estate was overrun by Shisha. It was only going to be a matter of time before the outer estate got taken over by them.

The girls were looking out the window and it made all of us freeze. It looked as if the end of the world was coming again. There was a bright light that just erupted against the setting sun. And then Haru’s phone went dead. Everybody who had a phone pulled theirs out, completely dead. Yuki tossed his phone to Tohru for her to charge. His phone was still dead.

Kyo sighed as he continued looking at the world beyond the school grounds, the breeze teasing his hair playfully. The rooftop where this nightmare started seemed to be his only comfort. It was perhaps the only thing that didn’t smell like of death in this whole place. How many people already died from this mess? His entire school. Now the entire Sohma family? The neighborhoods nearby. The cities. All of Europe. America. Mexico. Were there still any countries that were still functioning? Or was every single country like this?

“I think I know what happened last night,” Yuki’s voice brought him back into the real world.

“You do?” Kyo pulled away from the bar he was leaning on.

“Yeah,” Yuki muttered as he started looking at the same world Kyo was.

“So?”

“Have you ever heard of an EMP?” Yuki questioned.

“Nope, what’s that?”

“So that bright light we saw, I think was a nuclear explosion.”

“Like the ones that the US dropped on us back in World War II?” Kyo tilted his head.

“Probably, but nowhere near as strong as those bombs, I’m guessing,” Yuki sighed as his hair danced in the breeze, “but I can’t say for sure.”

“I see,” Kyo muttered as he rested back on the rail.

“But yeah, EMP stands for Electromagnetic Pulse. You know how when you have your phone with you and you use the microwave?” Yuki asked suddenly.

“Yeah, why?”

“So, have you had your phone for a second lose signal when you used the microwave?”

“A few times.”

“So, what happened last night was like that, but way bigger. Not only did it stop our phones from communicating with the grid, but the waves that the nuke gave off was strong enough to fry the circuits.”

“Wait, you mean to tell me that our phones are permanently dead?”

“To put it bluntly, yeah. Most things that are electronics with circuitry are completely trashed, come to think of it. Unless if they have some kind of protection against EMPs or it wasn't hit like everything else.”

"So no more communication with anybody like in the old world?"

Yuki nodded slowly; his body slumped even more on the rails. The rat just let himself get lost for a moment to everything going around him. This was the world they lived in. Right now, everything was “fine”. But what about outside the school? What was it like outside of the school grounds? If they were already dealing with a lot of Shisha around campus, how many more Shisha were outside? What about humans? Were there even humans left alive?

“So, what now?” Kyo asked.

“I don’t know. We stay here. It’s safe enough. We might be able to make it work. So long as we are all taking precautions.”

“Miss. Mayu was able to get the car keys at the teachers’ lounge,” Kyo stated as he felt his hair dance in the breeze.

Kyo was scratching his face. He wasn’t used to grow any kind of facial hair. The razor that he had in his PE locker finally died about a week ago. He really hated it. But at least the shadow he had now finally made Arisa admit that his crazy orange hair was in fact natural. The look on her face when was priceless as she admitted defeat. Although, jokes on her now since he felt like he wanted to rip his face off. The beard hair that was growing was making his skin itchy and uncomfortable.

“What’s the matter?”

“This beard is fucking killing me. My razor died last week,” Kyo muttered.

“Sorry to hear that. Mine doesn’t grow like yours,” Yuki rolled his eye.

His facial hair was not as extreme as Kyo’s, but it wasn’t anywhere as even. All of the guys were starting to grow facial hair. It felt a little weird especially since most guys they knew shaved. Yuki could understand Kyo’s frustration.

Kyo sighed as he gave. The more he scratched, the more it itched and he was getting fed up with it. He wasn’t in the mood to just scratch himself until he broke the skin. And he knew that the more he scratched it, that would end up happening.

“I came to get you. Haru, Momiji, and Tohru, and I need to have a serious discussion,” Yuki stated.

“About?”

“Just follow me, Cat,” Yuki stated casually as he made his way to the door. It was a quiet walk for both of them. They passed the room that they had been camping in. Went down a few more ways until they reached the library. Kyo went in and was met with his cousins and Tohru. They seemed to be a little anxious, but that wasn’t anything new in this world that they lived in now.

“Yuki, you got all of us together, what is it that you wanted to discuss about that we couldn’t have the others here?” Haru questioned.

“It’s about the curse,” the Rat started.

That put tension in the room almost instantly. Kyo wasn’t liking the possibility of this conversation. Not one bit. Why would they need to bring up the curse at a time like this? There was no reason for it. It wasn’t like they were in a situation that demanded that the curse be known.

“What about it?” Tohru asked sweetly.

“I think we need to let the other know about it,” Yuki stated, careful about how he spoke his words.

“No,” Kyo spoke up suddenly, “no they don’t. It’s still too risky to tell them.”

“Why not?” Momiji asked.

“Because it’s just too risky. We don’t know how they are going to react. What if they think we’re crazy sick freaks and toss us to the Shisha?” Kyo barked.

“They may not do that,” Yuki was looking at Kyo when he said his words.

“Can you prove it?”

“No, but if-”

“Then no,” Kyo was annoyed, “we have zero reasons to tell them. And it’s not like we are at great danger to even be forced into it.”

“And that’s the reason why we NEED to let them know. Before it gets to that point and mistakes happen. What if you and Uo are in the middle of a hoard of Shisha and she lands on you, or with your dumb luck, you land on her? Uo’s going to become Shisha food and you’re just going to run off since we found out that the Shisha don’t care for us in our animal forms,” Yuki was getting agitated.

Earlier in the month, Yuki, Tohru, and Kyo were working on some possible theories about them. They managed to trap a random Shisha and had them tied up. The Shisha trying to claw their way to them, almost as if it only begged for their tasty flesh. Tohru hugged both of the boys and they turned into their animals. Tohru stepped outside of the room, to try and not have the Shisha distracted and focus solely on the two zodiac boys. And nothing. It didn’t care for them so long as they remained quiet. Kyo made noises and the Shisha would try and go after him. Yuki would do the same and the same would happen. So long as they didn’t get too close to it and were quiet, the Shisha would, for the most part, let them be. It was a terrifying experience, but it was information they could use. Although, one of the more effective ways they saw was in smearing the guts of a Shisha on their clothes. The stink was horrible, but for some reason, the Shisha would stay clear from them, and that brought Kyo great comfort.

“It’s not the best time to tell them,” Kyo stated.

“There never will be a good time to tell them,” Yuki spat back.

“Yeah, there will, just not now,” Kyo got dangerously close to Yuki’s face.

“Alright, how about this, Kyo. Let’s all vote. If I win, we tell. If you win, we keep it hidden.”

“That’s not fair, you always fucking win,” Kyo spat darkly, “because you’re the fucking Rat and everybody thinks you’re always fucking right.”

“It doesn’t matter, I might be wrong in this. Now, all of those who think we should tell them about the curse, stand by my side. All that think we should keep it a secret, go to Kyo’s.”

Momiji looked at Kyo and sighed, “Sorry Kyo, but I think Yuki’s right in this.”

Kyo rolled his eyes at the Rabbit. But what surprised him was when he glanced to his left to see Haru. Both Kyo and Yuki surprised.

“Yuki, most of the time, I’d agree with you. But this time, I think Kyo’s right. It’s too early to tell right now. Especially since it’s still too early to tell,” Haru sighed.

It was a tie. Momiji and Yuki. Kyo and Haru. All four boys looked at Tohru. She was the deciding factor. Of course, she would agree with Yuki. This decision meant that either she had to hide a secret from her closest friends or not. Of course, this benefited Tohru.

“Miss. Honda, it would seem that we are at a standstill,” Yuki spoke softly.

“Tohru, please, think about this carefully. If Akito is still alive, and things somehow go back to normal, she might make you lose your memories of us,” Kyo didn’t even realize those words spilling from his mouth.

He was terrified. It was part of the deal between Akito and Tohru. The Sohma secret had to be kept secret. They were her friends. Of course, if Akito was still alive. All they could guess was that the Sohma Estate was overrun with Shisha. They didn’t know if Akito or anybody got out. But Kyo was willing to safely bet that if anybody were to have safely gotten out of there, it was Akito. He wondered how many people would have died protecting the Head of the family. It would be fitting for Akito to somehow keep Hatori alive. Keep him alive. Find them one way or another. And steal all of her memories. He didn’t realize that he was breathing heavily. That thought terrified him. Tohru losing all of the memories they hold so close. Even if it was clear that she had no feelings for him.

It was a pathetic love triangle those three had, although, in reality, it was a love line. Kyo knew that he had feelings for her. But with the Shisha taking over, it made his feelings a moot point. There wasn’t any time for him to talk to her about how he felt. And even if there was, he wasn’t going to ever admit it to her. For Kyo, it was clear that she was in love with Yuki. And based off of what Yuki told him the first few days, Yuki didn’t share those feelings.

“Kyo, the world isn’t going to come back from this. It doesn’t matter if Akito is okay with this or not. We need to think about the entire group,” Yuki spoke.

Tohru just stood there silently. She was looking at both young men and their cousins. Clearly, she didn’t like being put in this situation. And Kyo really wished that she didn’t have to be. She took a deep breath as she tried to figure out what the best choice would be. She just stood there for what felt like minutes. Both parties just watched her, not wanting to say anything in fear or worry about interrupting her. Tohru looked at them, her eyes full of sorry.

“I’m so sorry, Kyo, but I think Yuki is right. I don’t want to have them find out about the curse in a situation where they could die. And I don’t think you and Haru want that over your heads either.”

Kyo sighed as grumbled under his breath. Of course, she would choose Yuki. Why was he feeling so surprised over this? Tohru was going to choose Yuki. She always chose Yuki. But why did she have such sorrowful eyes?

“When do we tell them?” Kyo asked.

“We’ll both be doing our rounds around the building. Afterward, we will go reveal the curse to them,” Yuki looked at Kyo.

Both of them stepped out of the library with everybody. The Rat and Cat separated from the group as they started making their rounds. Kyo felt like he was completely defeated while Yuki kept looking around for any possible Shisha that might have come in.

“Kyo, it will work out in the end,” Yuki started, “revealing the secret.”

“I hope you’re right,” Kyo sighed as he glanced towards the front door of the school.

He saw that there were two Shisha. He pulled Yuki by the arm, getting his attention. Yuki had his chair leg ready, the leg covered in nails. Kyo had the pipe ready as they both made their way to the doors. The Shisha didn’t seem to take notice of them. Yuki took a look at the Shisha, his face sunk as he realized who they once were.

“Kimi, Komaki,” Yuki whispered sadly.

“You knew them?”

“Kimi was one of the secretaries for the Student Council. I had her go get Komaki when Kakeru got bit.”

“It’s not your fault, it was the first day, we didn’t know what was going on,” Kyo spoke.

“I feel like it was. If she stayed with me, she might still have survived,” Yuki looked at his two friends with deep sorrow.

“If you want, I can take care of them for you,” Kyo muttered, “you don’t have to kill them.”

“They’re dead already,” Yuki muttered, “And besides, they don’t deserve having this kind of fate.”

“Shit, if I get bitten by a Shisha, just kill me. I’m not turning into one of those things,” Kyo said as he looked at the two Shisha that was once his classmates.

“Only if you promise to kill me if I’m going to turn. I think being a Shisha would be the most terrifying thing ever.”

“Promise,” Kyo stated as he kept his eyes on the Shisha, “now Yuki, open the door, I’m going to throw this a little way off so we can kill them. Do you know who’s who?”

Yuki looked at both girls. Kimi had her shoulders torn up; her neck chewed. His stomach sank at the thought of how she must have turned. She must have been attacked by multiple Shisha for her to have those kinds of injuries. Yuki felt his tears rolling. He sent her to die. He should have just told her to stay. That it was too dangerous.

And Komaki. Her once happy go lucky smile was gone. Her leg had a very visible bite mark. He wondered how it happened. Was it some random Shisha? Was it Kimi? Was it somebody she knew? Was it a stranger? When did she get bitten? Did she suffer?

“Yuki, are you alright?”

Yuki nodded as he brushed away his tears. He needed to push his feelings aside. They weren’t his friends anymore. They were Shisha. They wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between him and food. For Shisha, if it was human, it was food. It didn’t matter if, at one point, they were family, friends, and loved ones.

“I’ll take care of them. The one with the torn-up shoulders was Kimi. She’s the same year as us,” Yuki started, “but from a different class. She flirted with one of the male teachers to get us a better whiteboard. I had been trying to get one for months and she managed to get it after thirty minutes boosting up his ego. And the girl- Shisha with a chunk of her calf bitten off was Komaki. She was my best friend’s girlfriend. They were planning on getting married after high school. Their parents were against the idea because they wanted them to go to college. But I was helping them with their plans to get eloped. They have been together since intermediate school.”

“Are you sure you want to do this, Yuki?” Kyo questioned.

“Yeah. Like you said. Go to the door, open it, throw a rock, smash heads. But I want to go and do it. It’s my duty as their friend and as the former President of the Student Body Council.”

And with that said, Yuki went to the glass door, careful not to make too much noise. He didn’t want to get their attention because it was only going to cause more problems. Even though it seemed like they were either blind or almost fully blind, their sense of smell and sound was better than the average human.

Yuki opened the door, careful not to make noise unnecessarily. As soon as he had opened it enough, Kyo threw a rock in a random direction. As soon as it smashed to the ground, bouncing a bit, the Shisha turned to the area where the sound was. Yuki went outside, keeping his breathing steady as he made his way to Kimi, the Devil Woman, as his fan club dubbed her. He scoffed at that name. They didn’t know who she was. And Devil Woman was clearly something she wasn’t.

Yuki felt his body freeze when he kicked a pebble. Both Shisha turned, towards Yuki. Yuki was desperately trying to move his legs. He was trying to swing at them. But his body just wouldn’t move. His body was just locked up on him.

The Shisha formally known as Kimi was close to him. Her hand grabbed his arm as she prepared to bite him. And that was when he snapped back into action. He pushed her body to the ground as hard as he could. Kyo rushed in as he smashed the pipe against Komaki. Her voice gurgled in the same way the Shisha would and then silence. Yuki watched Kyo as he rushed to Kimi, slamming the pipe against her head before she was fully on her feet.

“Don’t. I fucked it up, Kyo.”

“I’m not going to shit on you, Rat. They were your friends. You froze. I’d have done the same if it was,” Kyo shook his head as if he was trying to force what he said back into his mouth, “it doesn’t matter. We’re clear.”

Kyo grabbed Komaki’s body, holding her bridal style. During their first few days, Kyo found out that when a girl was turned into a Shisha, they didn’t have the ability to turn them into their animal. Even when the Shisha was dead permanently. It was too close for comfort the way Kyo found out, but it was good information for them.

“Why?”

“They were your friends. Let’s give them a proper burial,” Kyo stated casually.

Kyo started walking to the area where they had buried some of their friends and classmates. Kyo sighed as he and Yuki carried the two former students of their school. They reached to one of the places where they had buried some of the students. Shovels leaned against one of the trees in the area. There mounds already in the area, graves of their friends. Kyo placed the dead Shisha girl he held at the tree, looking almost as if she was resting. Yuki did the same, grabbing a shovel before both boys started digging.

“I still think it’s a mistake to let them know. I still don’t trust them fully to let them know,” Kyo stated.

“I don’t either. But it doesn’t matter. This world is very different than now,” Yuki stated.

“Yeah, I know.”

“Are you happy?” Yuki questioned.

“What do you mean?”

“Are you happy? In the old world, you would have been sent to your cage after we graduated. This world now, your cage is as big as you let it.”

“If you put it like that,” Kyo spoke as he was digging up dirt, “then yeah. I’m fucking happy. I don’t have to live the rest of my life in some tiny room. Now, this should be deep enough. It’s not like we get dogs or things like that coming in here.”

Yuki nodded as he picked up Kimi, placing her in her final resting place. He placed his hands over her face, covering her still open eyes. He sighed his apology to her before he started burying his dead friend. His emotions threatening to come out again. This month was just one emotional roller coaster for Yuki, and he knew it was one for everybody else. He thought that he would have already become numb to this, but at the moment where it mattered most, he couldn’t do it. He felt like he was a complete failure.

“I’m sorry that your friends died,” Kyo muttered as he placed Komaki in her grave, next to her boyfriend.

Kyo did the same thing Yuki did, closing her eyes. Even though she was a Shisha at the end of her life, she was still a student. She was still Yuki’s friend. She didn’t do anything to him, for the most part.

“I’m sorry Komaki. I’m sorry that I killed Kakeru. If I opened the door instead of him, I would have been dead. I was going to open that door, but he did it for me. And because of that,” Yuki felt his body crumble against his own guilt as he bowed, his head touching the dirt before her grave, “I’m so sorry.”

“Yuki, do want to be alone for a minute?” Kyo questioned.

“Na, I’m fine. I just needed to apologize. I’m sorry,” Yuki blushed in embarrassment.

“Whatever. Let’s just go and finish burying them.”

It took them about ten minutes before they finished. They made their way back, leaving the shovels back at the tree. They went back inside, making sure that the doors were locked from the inside. They made their way back to the room. Kyo and Yuki opened the door to see Tohru pouring some soup into a bowl. She got another ladle and put some soup from another pot in another bowl. She smiled as she saw both of her friends returning. She gave one of the bowls to Yuki, Kyo instantly smelled Chinese chives and was instantly turned off from eating.

“I made some miso soup without chives for you, Kyo.”

“Thanks,” Kyo smiled warily, as he was given his bowl.

“Let me get some rice for you two. Everybody’s eating already.”

Yuki nodded as he took his bowl with him and sat with Hatsuharu and Momiji. Kyo walked towards Tohru, helping her get his plate and Yuki’s. She thanked him, her face red. He brushed it off as Tohru being her goofy self and grabbed both plates, making sure his bowl was on his plate as he handed Yuki his food.

“Kyo, after we’re done eating, we’ll tell them.”

“No, let’s just get it over with. I can’t eat until this is done, and my stomach has been in knots all day.”

“Alright,” Yuki stated, “let's do it now then.”

“Hey, everybody,” Haru started.

Uo, Hana, Tohru, and Miss. Mayu stopped eating their food, looking at Haru. They looked a little surprised to see Haru interrupt lunch. He had a smug look about him when he saw that everybody was looking at him.

“Yuki, you were the one that wanted to spill this tea,” Haru looked up at Yuki, who was sitting on a chair, “so the pot’s all yours. Spill it.”

The women looked at Yuki, wondering what was going on. Their bodies almost leaning towards him, interested in what he had to say.

“Have you ever heard of that legend about the zodiac animals, god, and the cat?” Yuki asked.

“There’s so many versions of that story,” Miss. Mayu stated casually, “why do you ask?”

“What if I said that there was some truth to that story?” Yuki questioned the group.

“I’d say you’ve had your head in too many manga, Prince,” Arisa snickered.

“Well, I don’t know how to explain this with words,” Yuki smiled, looking embarrassed.

“Damn it,” Kyo muttered as he stood up, “Yuki, you can’t even do this right.”

Kyo slammed his plate and bowl on Yuki’s table before he walked right over to Tohru. Arisa and Saki stood up suddenly when they saw how Kyo was rushing towards Tohru. Before they could do anything, Kyo pulled her in for a hug, bracing himself for his transformation. It was something he could never fully get used to. His body morphing, rearranging itself almost. It wasn’t painful or anything. It just, for him, felt awkward.

The smoke cleared, he knew that everybody was going to have stunning faces. Even he was stunned that he did this. He was the one that was strongly against it. But for some reason, he just did this. Maybe, deep down, he wanted this secret out. Maybe he was tired of having to constantly live in fear of not only the fact that he was going to be around people like Uo, Hana, and Miss. Mayu.

The smoke cleared and Tohru was in front of everyone with an orange cat, Kyo’s clothes a crumpled pile in front of her. The three women looking at the whole situation stunned.

“Like, I said, the myth is closer to the truth than what you would think.”

“Our family is cursed with the twelve spirits of the zodiac,” Haru muttered.

“Plus, the cat,” Momiji smiled.

“Tohru, you know?” Uo looked stunned.

Tohru nodded softly, as she looked on the floor.

“This explains your waves. There was a dark cloud. And this explains it perfectly,” Hana spoke almost as if she was uninterested in the whole matter.

“So, is he able to talk?” their teacher asked.

“Yeah, I can talk,” Kyo muttered as he jumped out of Tohru’s arms, “I’m hiding under the desk though.”

“Why?” Uo was curious.

“Because when we transform back into our human forms, we don’t have our clothes on,” Yuki said.

“So, what do you guys turn into?” Uo was now really curious.

“I’m the Cow, Yuki’s the Rat, and Momiji’s the Rabbit.”

“You guys actually saw Momiji’s form before. You remember our first-year festival when Yuki was in the dress?” Kyo stated, hearing Yuki groan at even the thought of that memory.

“That albino rabbit was you?” Arisa asked.

“Guilty,” Momiji smiled as he put a finger to his lips playfully.

“Kyo, do you want them to know more about the cat, or do you want to discuss that another day?” Tohru asked.

“It doesn’t matter,” he sighed.

“What do you mean more about the cat?” Mayu asked.

“The cat,” Kyo started, “is a bit different than everybody else in the Zodiac. It has an extra form. My human form is, how do I say it? Unstable.”

“What do you mean, unstable?” Uo asked.

“I have another form that isn’t a cat or human I wear my bracelet to keep myself from turning to that form, but other than that, I would rather leave it at that, if you don’t mind.”

“How long does it take for you to turn back?” Saki asked.

“Depends. Before the end of the world, I would have turned back a while ago. But since the end of the world, it takes anywhere from thirty minutes to a few hours. Longest for us so far was ten hours,” Yuki stated casually, “we figured it’s because of the stress. If we get too sick or stressed out, it can trigger a transformation.”

There was a loud poof of smoke as Kyo finally turned back. He grabbed his clothes and started putting them on, by the time the smoke cleared he was already putting on his shirt, disregarding his socks and shoes.

“I have a question if you any of you wouldn’t mind answering,” Miss. Mayu began, “Your cousins, Shigure, and Hatori. Are they also cursed?”

“Yeah, Shigure’s the dog and Hatori’s the Dragon,” Tohru spoke.

“I see,” Miss. Mayu muttered, “figured he’s a mangy mutt,” she said the last part under her breath.

They continued answering questions throughout the rest of the day. Kyo, for the first time, felt at ease since this whole mess started. Maybe the others were right. Maybe this was the right call.


	5. Chapter 5

Kyo was lightly banging his head against the desk as he looked at the books. He was so frustrated as he struggled to figure out what was going on with the medical books he had found. He was waiting for the switch to click. He felt like it was getting close to that moment. And once it clicked, that’s when it would be easier to deal with. The Cat just sighed heavily as he looked out the window after he was done beating himself up. It had been two weeks since they revealed the curse to the entire group. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted. Akito was wrong. People would still accept them. Although, Kyo made it very clear with them that his true form was something he would only use if it was a life or death situation. Kyo was very confident that his true form would actually be able to handle a larger amount of Shisha, but even if it could, when he was in that form, it was completely different than being an actual cat. He was fighting the Cat Spirit. It wanted blood. He did not. That was the one thing that he knew was strictly the Cat and not himself.

A sudden memory of how Tohru ran after him when he ran away in his true form. That was the only thing he could do. He was terrified about how she saw him. He was expecting her to run the other way after she gazed upon his horrible form. And then to add to the fact that he was terrified in if he allowed himself to just become lost in the emotions of the Cat Spirit and just fall into its temptation to become a real monster.

“Yo, Carrot Top,” Uo smiled as she ruffled Kyo’s hair, “you actually reading? I thought you couldn’t even read that shit since it’s in English.”

“Haha, very funny,” Kyo muttered as he brushed her hand away from him.

“Wasn’t your mother part European or something?” Yuki suddenly questioned Kyo.

“Yeah, my asshole of a father met her in Scotland at a pub in Glasgow.”

“Is that why you have a potty mouth Kyo?” Momiji teased.

“I’ll show you potty mouth, you shit,” Kyo was aggravated.

“So, instead of just saying that you were a natural redhead because your mom was European, you just blamed it on your father’s side?” Uo questioned.

Kyo’s face drained almost instantly at what he heard the Yankee’s words. It never once crossed his mind to even bring up his mother’s heritage over the fact that she wasn’t even Japanese. He could have avoided so many fights with so many people. His mother even had flaming red hair like his. He just wanted to crawl under the desk for his own stupidity. Unlike Momiji, he didn’t know his European roots all that much other than the language. Momiji, for the most part, could be dropped right in Germany and would blend in perfectly. But have him in Scottland, and he honestly wasn’t sure if he would blend in all that way. He’d just look like the Japanese kid with red hair.

“You never thought about that, did you?” Yuki sighed.

“Can it, Rat Boy,” Kyo spat.

“Kyo, I didn’t know your mom wasn’t from Japan,” Tohru smiled excitedly.

“Nobody ever really questioned it. I look more like my dad than my mom anyway,” Kyo sighed as he closed the book on the desk, knowing that there was no way he would even be able to study at this point.

“Yeah, his mom taught a lot of the Sohma children music,” Momiji smiled.

“Really now?” Tohru was excited.

“Yeah, his mom taught me how to play the piano and guitar. She even gave me singing lessons too. Said I was her best student,” Haru smirked as Kyo rolled his eyes.

Kyo knew damn well why his mother even bothered teaching the Sohma children music. And he was it. She was hoping that in teaching the children in their home, they would eventually give him a chance. It did work, to an extent. Some of the parents and Zodiac children did form some kind of friendship with him and his mother. He remembered how Haru would end up spending the night over at Kyo’s a great deal. Even though Kyo knew that their relationship didn’t appear I to others to be close, Haru was almost like a brother to him, even if both of them wouldn’t admit it. Their relationship only became strained when Haru actually became friends with Yuki. When he was young, Kyo felt like it was a huge betrayal. Both of them were the only ones who could relate to their dislike towards the Rat. But when Haru’s anger vanished, Kyo was alone with his for Yuki.

“Oh, Haru, will you play for us sometime?” Tohru asked, her bright smile beaming through.

“Well, I got some good news,” Haru smirked, “Momiji and I have actually been clearing out the Music Room and it wasn’t as overrun like some of the other classrooms. And the piano is actually working pretty well, hell we can even throw a party to celebrate us surviving this long.”

“I can even get my violin and play along,” Momiji smiled.

“That sounds like a wonderful idea. Yuki, Kyo, Arisa,” Miss. Mayu started, “You three are our best at scavenging. We are starting to run low on supplies. I want you three to get some of the things we will need. And if you can find party stuff, then that works too.”

The three nodded as they grabbed their bags and weapons. Yuki with a wooden chair leg with nails. Uo with her classic pipe. Kyo with an old ax that they found. Although he preferred using Uo’s pipe because it wasn’t as heavy, the good thing was that the ax hit harder.

“Tohru, you are going to cook something. Whatever you cook will be fine.”

Tohru smiled as she started for where they had their nonperishable foods. Most of the things like eggs and fresh meats were either long eaten or thrown out after a few weeks. The power went out too long and by the time they were able to fix the generator, most of that food had spoiled. It had been so long since they even had fresh fruits and vegetables. She was hoping that maybe they would find seeds and be able to grow a little fruit and vegetable garden. Yuki loved gardening and it would keep him busy. And Tohru knew that she would be able to make tasty dishes with the vegetables he grew.

~*~

Kyo sighed as a group of cats began to form around them as they walked down the street. He listened to what they had to say, asking every once in a while where a Shisha was. This was one of the reasons why Yuki and Kyo would always go out with one of the girls. Kyo and Yuki were able to get into small spaces easier than the others. And then because the animals that corresponded with them were common animals in just about everywhere in Japan, it helped with them being able to change plans accordingly. They were just walking around, every once in a while, they would just change directions because one of the cats would warn them.

“I know this place,” Yuki stated suddenly.

“Where are we then?” Uo asked.

“There’s a convenience store down the corner. Machi and I would grab things for the Student Council there,” Yuki said her name softly.

The weather was really nice today. Not too hot, not too cold. They were going to have to find clothes for winter and summer. It was better if they could find that stuff before the weather changed too drastically. It was going to suck big time if they didn’t. Yuki, Kyo, and Haru were planning to see if maybe they could just head over to Shigure’s place and grab their clothes there. The house was a few miles away. However, walking there was going to be out of the question. It would be safer if they drove there. That way they could make some good time while getting things that they really needed. They could even get Tohru’s things as well so the girls could share. Maybe they were all about the same size? None of them really knew anything about girls clothes. And then they could grab some more home comforts that Shigure wouldn’t mind. Chances were, he wasn’t going to be heading to his place any time soon. They just needed to talk with Miss. Mayu to see if they could drive her car there. It would be a good plan. And in the event that they needed to get the hell out of the school, they could at least have Shigure’s place ready for them.

They followed Yuki until they reached the building he was talking about. To their complete shock, the store hadn’t been broken into. It was locked with a chain. Kyo had the other two-step to the side as he started for the chain with the ax. He wasn’t sure if it would work but it was worth a try. He slammed the ax at the chain for a few minutes before giving up. It didn’t look like it was doing much. They were going to have to figure another way inside the shop. They sat on the sidewalk, trying to come up with ideas. In the end, they decided that the best way would to just find something like a rock or brick and throw it at the shop window. Even though Yuki was nervous about doing something like that, he also knew that this was the end of the world. It wasn’t like there were any police officers around to arrest them. And even if there were, they weren’t doing this because they wanted to. This was all about survival.

 

~*~

Hours passed before everything was ready. Kyo, Yuki, and Uo were able to find a convenience store and grabbed as many snacks as they could in their bags. They were even able to bring back some bottles of sake, beer, and anything else they could get their hands on. If they were going to celebrate the fact that after almost three months, they had survived this nightmare, then having a drink was well deserved. They had the drinks already on a table that was already in the Music Room. The place was decorated with little drawings that they figured Momiji and Haru made to make it a little bit more cheerful. The center of the room was the food that Tohru had made along with bags of chips that they were able to bring back. It took them a few round trips with everybody’s bag when they discovered the convenience store that was barely touched until today. They even found frozen meals that they were very quick into putting in the fridge that was still in the Home Ec class. Any of the extra that couldn’t fit, Tohru ended up preparing for the party.

Before anybody knew it, it felt like this was a party. Everybody was chatting and enjoying their time. It felt almost as if from outside of this classroom, Shisha were not walking around eating the living. It felt like it was just a regular day before the end of the world happened. Kyo smirked as he challenged Yuki to a drinking contest, both never having drunk before.

As soon as the beer touched the tip of their tongues, both spat out the liquid, completely horrified by the bitter taste. The others laughed at the scene as they made a mess of themselves. Kyo, although wasn’t a big fan of the taste, found that after a few swigs didn’t find it that bad. Yuki, on the other hand, decided that beer was not for him.

The entire group was just enjoying the moment. Haru was playing on the piano random songs. Every once in a while, the Ox would play one song after another. Every once in a while, Haru would play songs that somebody knew, some would burst into song, causing others to sing along. It was nice until one of the songs turned from upbeat and full of pep to something almost somber like a lullaby. Haru hummed the words, every once in a while, singing the lyrics. Kyo recognized the song immediately. His blood started boiling. There was absolutely no reason for him to even play that song. He had zero right to sing it. It wasn’t his song to sing.

He felt his body twitch as his knuckles turned bone white from clenching his fists so hard. The cat made his way to Haru, slamming his hand, interrupting the song. Everybody froze, looking at Kyo and Haru. Kyo was turning red in the face. They weren’t sure if it was because of his own anger or if he had too much to drink. The look in Kyo’s eyes was that of absolute anger. His body was visibly shaking, almost like the same kind of anger he reserved for Yuki in their younger years.

“You have no right even playing that song in front of me, you fucking asshole.”

“It’s not that big of a deal, Kyo,” Haru muttered.

“Fuck off.”

Kyo walked out of the room, he knew that he needed some air. He knew that he was going to the rooftop to just cool off. If he stayed there any longer, he knew that he was going to punch him in the face. He already wanted to do it and he figured that just leaving the party would be better than to just make an even bigger scene. He slammed the door as soon as he left the room.

“Kyo shouldn’t be acting like a spoiled brat like that,” Yuki muttered as his face was flushed from the shochu.

“Kyo’s mutter would sing that song to him when little,” Momiji whispered softly.

“What happened to her?” Arisa mused.

“She walked in front of a train and killed herself,” Haru stated bluntly.

Everybody looked at him silently, almost as if they were afraid to even say something. The tension was thick, almost as if it was suffocating everyone in the room.

“I knew his mom died, but,” Tohru held in her tears, “I didn’t know she did that.”

“Family said she offed herself because she had the Cat and tried to love it. In the end, the Cat destroys life. After his mom died, Kyo turned into the bigger shit he is now,” Haru muttered as he continued to play the same song that angered Kyo.

“And you’re seriously playing it after telling us this?” Uo was fuming.

“Hey, what can I say? His mom was really good at music. Besides,” Haru muttered, “she was like a mom to me too. She was one of the few people in the family that didn’t treat me like I was stupid for being the Ox.”

“You’re not stupid for being the cow,” Momiji stated.

“He’s right,” Uo smiled, “you’re stupid because you’re being a fucking asshole.”

Haru chuckled as he finished up the song, starting off with another. He believed that he didn’t do anything wrong. Kyo’s mother had been dead for years. Even though he missed her, she was gone. She wasn’t going to be coming back. She was lucky that she never had to view this world that they lived in.

Tohru walked out of the room, she felt like she needed to find Kyo. He was hurting right now, and even if he just wanted to scream and yell, she was alright with letting him do that to her. How often did Kyo get to cry out about how unfair a lot of things were in his life. Especially because of how today was supposed to be a day where everybody was able to relax for once. And Kyo clearly wasn’t able to because of a song. Even if the song was beautiful, it gave him pain in his soul.

Ever since the end of the world, Kyo had changed. Some days it was almost as if he was really alive again, living and thriving in this strange new horrific world. And then there were days like this, where it felt like everybody had to be walking on eggshells with Kyo. Nobody really knew when it happened, but it seemed like Kyo the one that was doing everything in his power to keep everybody alive, almost as if he was trying to make up for everything wrong in his life. She couldn’t even begin to imagine all of the mess that any of the Sohmas had faced when the world was normal. And with the world the way it was now, it must have been even more so difficult for them.

She walked down the hallway until she finally caught up to Kyo, calling out to him. He stopped, looking at her, the look on his face full of weary. There were bags under his eyes. When was the last time he had a decent night’s sleep? It seemed like he was waking up earlier most days, doing perimeter checks or killing stray Shisha that reached their barriers. And then once a week, if he allowed himself, he would sleep until maybe lunch was ready.  When was the last time, besides today, that he allowed himself to just fully relax and forget about everything going on?

“I’m sorry about what Haru did,” Tohru whispered.

“It’s not your fault.”

“I know, but,” Tohru looked down on the floor at their feet, “I’m worried about you.”

“Don’t be, I just need to calm down for a bit before I go back. He always plays that song when he’s on the piano. Especially if he knows I’m nearby.”

“What’s the song about, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“It’s a lullaby she made up for me. She would sing it to me whenever I was feeling bad. She died a long time ago. I was like four or five when she died. Mom would just sing that song to me all the time. My parents would always get into some pretty intense fights. Glass would break, things would get thrown at each other. I’d hide in the closet and cry.”

Kyo had a look almost as if he was trying to look beyond everything in front of him, “because of me. They got into so many arguments because of me. If I was never born, she’d still be alive. Everybody would be happier.”

“That’s not true, Kyo. I wouldn’t be,” Tohru’s eyes threatened to spill her tears.

Kyo wanted to tell her that she was lying, or at the very least that it didn’t matter what she thought because she would have said that literally to a complete stranger. Tohru was going to be with Yuki. Between him and Yuki, the Rat was always going to be the better option. Regardless if both of them were getting along better, there were still moments where their tension would come and go.

Kyo took a deep breath as he passed his hands through his hair. His body was still shaking from Haru playing that song. One. He needed to clear his head. Two. He couldn’t let Haru get under his skin. Three. He knew damn well he was scaring everybody. Four. That’s why she came. Because everybody was scared that he was going to blow up again. Kyo grumbled under his breath as he realized that he was being an ass. He hated it.

“I’m sorry,” Kyo muttered to Tohru.

“Kyo, if you need to talk, scream, yell, cry, anything, I’m here for you,” she smiled that big beautiful smile of hers.

“Thanks, but don’t worry about me,” Kyo whispered, “I’ll be fine, I promise.”

“If you want, we can just sit down here and relax,” Tohru smiled softly.

Kyo nodded. He felt his body crash against a wave of exhaustion. He didn’t know when, but he knew he fell asleep. Tohru smiled softly as she let him use her lap as a pillow. Crying softly for Kyo. Most people didn’t want to cry for Kyo. Not even Kyo himself.


	6. Chapter 6

“Do you even know how to drive?” Miss. Mayu asked as she tossed her car keys at Yuki.

“In video games,” Yuki smiled with a slight blush.

“Oh hell no, you not going in the front seat until I show you how to drive.”

“What’s the worst that can happen?”

“Oh, I don’t know? Maybe you crash my car and you three dumbasses are stranded miles away from the school. Because I’ll tell you straight up,” Miss Mayu pushed her finger on Yuki’s chest a little roughly, “if I have to go and save your dumbasses because you fucked up my car, I will hug all three you and throw you to a hoard of Shisha.”

“Good luck throwing an ox,” Haru muttered as he smiled.

“I’ll turn you into a leather belt, you little shit,” Mayu spoke as her gaze cut into Haru.

“I think I’ll taste better as a steak. Maybe add a bit of soy sauce. Or ginger.”

Kyo snatched the keys from Yuki with a smirk as he looked at Miss. Mayu, “I’ve driven a few times before.”

“When?” Haru barked.

“Shishio rented a car and took me to a country road.”

“How much you want to bet that he crashed into a ditch,” Haru whispered at Yuki

“My first time,” Kyo smirked.

“They’re going to total my car,” Mayu muttered as she left.

“I was able to get the hang of it at the end,” Kyo laughed.

The three young men started for the door. It was amazing that they had finally convinced their teacher to give them one of the cars. Ever since that bright light that killed the electronics in the area appeared, some of the cars stopped working. Mayu’s car was one of those older vehicles that the most technological thing it had was a radio that plays cassette tapes. They needed to get more supplies. They were good with food thanks to the huge haul they got from the convenience store they found for the party. Mayu ended up driving the entire group there so they could raid the entire building. The first thing Kyo did was grab all the medical supplies that the store had. These were going to be things that would either help them or if they somehow managed to find other people surviving, bargaining chips for better things. Medical supplies were always going to be something they would always need. These were going to be things that meant the difference between life and death. And he sure as hell was going to make sure that they had the best chance to live.

They needed to get things from Shigure’s place. And from the final call from Haru’s father, they knew that there was no way they would be able to go to the Sohma Estate to even grab Haru’s and Momiji’s things. Kyo and Haru had about the same build and Momiji’s was closer to Yuki’s. They would at least be able to share clothes for the most part. It also helped that they would finally have more things than just rewashing their school uniforms. Already they were starting to get worn out, holes appearing in random areas, bloodstains that could never be fully removed no matter how hard they tried, fabric starting to thin.

They finally made it to the car and got in. Kyo put the key in the ignition and to his surprise, it turned on. He kicked off his shoes and tossed them to the back. He felt like he could feel the road better. Yuki looked at him weirded out, but Haru was indifferent. Kyo went through the gate and from the rear-view mirror, saw Momiji and Tohru close the gate. And then they were off. Kyo rolled down his window to let the breeze come in. The car’s ac, from what he remembered last time, was dead. Miss. Mayu had been meaning to get it repaired. But with the end of the world, it really didn’t matter now. They didn’t live too far from school. But they knew that with how the world was now, it would probably take them a few days to get to Shigure’s, grab the stuff and be back at the school. With the car, it would be much easier. The roads were surprisingly pretty clear, save for the occasional car accident that must have happened when the world was plunged into hell and small groups of Shisha. They were too fast for them in the car, so there was little reason to even worry. But Kyo didn’t want to test his luck with any large groups of Shisha. He wasn’t in the mood to see how long they would last in this death trap.

And then they reached the forest road that would lead them to Shigure’s house. Kyo wasn’t sure if the road was even maintained anymore. And now looking at this forest, his heart started pounding. This was the perfect place for Shisha to hide and bite. There was too much coverage. And every little sound he could already hear. If the roads were not in the best condition, he would have to leave the car here. That might be the best bet until they decide that they could come back, possibly. It would be a short walk, and if the path was still there, then they would get there faster.

Kyo turned the car off, to the other’s surprise and stepped out, opening the passenger side as he put on his shoes quickly. The other two did the same. Haru stretched a little as he looked at the area. Something caught his eye as started for some person’s yard. Yuki got out of the car quickly, telling Haru to get back.

Haru smirked as he opened the gate. And that’s when they both realized what Haru saw. A motorcycle. They went after him, surprised that it was in such beautiful condition after everything that had happened. They figured that it would have been taken or trashed with how the world had ended. Maybe it was just too obscure to have been noticed?

Yuki looked inside one of the windows before he gave a small cry as he jumped back. The other side of the window was a Shisha, slamming their face on the window as if trying to bite Yuki. Kyo laughed at the scene, although he knew that he would have done the same thing.

“Want to see if they have the keys?” Kyo asked Haru.

“Hell yeah. This is a nice bike. It might still work.”

Haru, out of sheer curiosity, messed with the door. Wanting to see if the door was opened or locked. The doorknob wiggled a bit. Lock. They were going to have to break the door down. It didn’t matter though. This was going to be a place that they were going to need to raid. They might find some clothes for everybody. They might find some more supplies. And if it meant that they would have to just kill a Shisha, then whatever. Yuki went to the window again, making sure that he distracted the living carcass. Haru and Kyo were slamming their bodies against the door. It wouldn’t budge. After a few body slams, the Shisha lost interest in Yuki and moved towards the door.

They sighed before trying something new. Yuki saw that the window upstairs was opened. This was perfect. One of them could just go in through there and open the door from the inside. Kyo sighed as he looked at the window. There was a tree nearby. He could probably make it if he was a cat.

“I don’t think we will be able to get to that room, Rat Boy,” Kyo muttered.

“You or me are going to have to be stressed enough to turn into our animal.”

“Or we can just come back another time and get the bike,” Kyo muttered.

“Fuck no,” Haru muttered, “break the window.”

And with that, Haru grabbed his baseball bat and slammed it hard against the window, shattering the glass almost instantly. The Shisha started again for the window, stepping with its bare feet over the glass, ignoring the glass grinding into the soles of its feet. Haru again slammed the bat, hitting the Shisha right in the head. The Shisha fell quickly, not getting up. Hiro let his bat slide across the freshly broken windowsill, making sure that any larger pieces of glass broke off. Haru jumped on in, both Yuki and Kyo stunned as the door was opened.

“Welcome to my new home,” Haru laughed as he made his way over to the Shisha.

He was looking through her clothes, hoping that he would find the keys or anything interesting to take. Kyo was looking upstairs inspecting the rooms. A first room made his heart sink. It was a little kid’s room. A girl. The room covered in pink with magical girls all over the wall and stuffed animals on the bed. On the bed, there were two little girls. Shisha at the end of their lives. Their bed covered in blood. That Shisha, when they were all alive, he figured must have been their mother. And the sinking realization hit him. These were children once. Quickly, he stepped out of the room, closing it as if it were containing the plague. He was trying to keep himself calm as his body started shaking. She must have tried to kill them. There was a lot of blood on the sheets. And in the process, must have gotten bitten.

“What’s in that room?” Yuki asked.

“You don’t want to go in there,” Kyo muttered as he cleared his throat.

“Why?”

“This family had kids,” Kyo tried to find the words, “they didn’t make it.”

“Holy shit,” Yuki muttered, his voice shaking a little.

“Found it!”

Both the Cat and Rat made their way downstairs to see Haru holding a key for the bike. This was a good haul. This was something that would help them in the long run. They would at least be able to use that bike to go further faster. The boys walked to the bike, Haru with a smug on his face, mounted the bike, putting the key in the ignition. He turned it and the happiness on his face drained quickly. It wasn’t even starting. He looked at it, seeing that there was no gas. But even without gas, the bike would have made some kind of sound. But nothing.

“God damn piece of shit!” Haru was yelling as he got off the bike slamming it hard on the ground, “it doesn’t fucking work! No wonder nobody took it, piece of shit!”

“Let’s go to Shigure’s. We need to get our clothes,” Yuki muttered as he grabbed his younger cousin’s arm, heading to Shigure’s.

~*~

Yuki, Kyo, and Haru stood at the front door of Shigure’s place. It was so unnerving to be here. They knew that he was nowhere in the area, based on what Haru’s father had to say. It seemed like Shigure was in the main house along with Ayame and Hatori and some of the other zodiac members. As far as they knew, none of them survived.

The house was a bit trashed. It looked like somebody had been staying over at their place while they were gone. Food wrappers were on the floor along with what looked like scorch marks on the kitchen floor. It seemed like somebody had started a fire in the kitchen. Yuki figured that the electricity must have craped out for the house and many of the houses in the area. The boys went to the living room, seeing that the house was just as messed up. They could see that the house was, at one point broken into, the television was missing from its stand, along with the cabinet in the corner of the room, the glass broken, and the items long gone. The tatami mats were damaged, stained with who knew what and ripped. The house was completely trashed.

“This sucks,” Kyo muttered as he lightly kicked a broken glass across the living room.

“We need to go into our rooms and grab our stuff,” Yuki spoke.

“Haru, go into Shigure’s room there and grab his normal clothes. They’ll be better than nothing for Uo and Hana. We’ll take them scavenging for clothes another time. They were going to need new clothes as well and something was better than nothing. Worst case, they would just have to share with Tohru her clothes.

They heard a loud bang from upstairs, the three young men had their weapons brought out. Yuki had Haru go through the kitchen, while he and Kyo opened the living room door, only to re-enter the house through the front door. That sounded as if it came from Tohru’s room. This wasn’t good. Who was in their home? How did they get in? Did Tohru accidentally leave her window open the day the world ended? She always forgot to close it. Did Shigure leave the door open when he was in a rush to head to the Sohma Estate? The world was ending, after all. What’s to say that Shigure in his haste for safety ended up abandoning ship?

Slowly, the three boys went up to the stairs, First room they opened was Yuki’s room. His room was somehow even messier than when he first remembered leaving it. So many of his clothes were on the floor. Were they robbed? The living room clearly showed that they were with the missing television. Maybe they were looking for money in his room?

It looked clear and they again went to check in the restroom. Kyo opened the door and was immediately hit by a wave of rancid air. It smelled the same as a heavily used restroom in a stadium. Kyo slammed the door shut, trying his best not to throw up as his eyes teared up. That was one of the most horrific smells he ever had to punch him in the face. And he knew damn well there was no way in hell that Tohru would have left it like that. Somebody had to be in this place, may it be that they still were, or if they left. But damn, he was mad. They turned that restroom into a biohazard. Kyo was just disgusted by how people were. Even if the world had ended, there was still zero excuses to be that gross.

“What happened?” Yuki asked.

“Whoever was here trashed Tohru’s bathroom. It smells worse than the fucking Shisha.”

“Let’s check your room,” Haru muttered as he pointed at Kyo.

Both nodded as they opened it. It looked like it had been used. Kyo knew that he put his futon in the wardrobe and there it was out in the open, blood-stained. This wasn’t good. Was there a Shisha in the house? Was somebody just here and they left? Kyo felt his body tense as he stepped into his room. The blood was old, as far as he could tell. He didn’t know how old, but it was old enough where it was dried and had that reddish-brown tint. He would take the futon with him. It was better than sleeping on the floor.

“Let’s look in Tohru’s room,” Haru muttered as Kyo nodded.

He stepped out, holding his ax tightly. This was the last room. And they knew they heard something in the house somewhere. The three boys opened the door. A woman was holding down a Shisha. The three rushed in trying to help her. Haru was trying to pull her away from the Shisha. The disheveled woman was smacking his arm, screaming.

“Stop,” the woman was crying, “don’t hurt him, he’s my baby.”

Haru let go, stepping back as all three boys watched the woman. And that’s when they saw her arms. Chunks were bitten off her. She was bitten. Was she bitten during the brief conflict? Was she bitten before they even met her? Her body was shaking as she sweats profusely. Her long dark brown hair was clearly unwashed and matted as she planted kisses on the Shisha.

The Shisha in her arms was growling angerly, baring their teeth, trying to snap at them every few seconds or so. It was unnerving the way that she held that Shisha, like it, was her child. It was her child. It wasn’t her child. That child was gone, and the Shisha was the only thing left of it.

“Lady, that ain’t your kid anymore,” Haru stated bluntly, “that kid ain’t even a kid. It’s dead.”

“It doesn’t matter, he will always be my baby,” she cried as she held the Shisha tighter.

“Okay, we won’t do anything to him,” Yuki started, “I’m Yuki, and they are my cousins, Kyo and Haru. Kyo and I used to live with a friend and a family member of ours over here.”

“I see, I’m sorry if I intruded in your home,” she whispered.

“It’s alright, it’s the end of the world, you had your reasons,” Yuki spoke softly, his words warm.

“My husband, he’s a sergeant in the police force.”

“You must be very proud.”

“I am,” she started crying, “he died in the line of duty the first day.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that,” Yuki continued to speak, “do you want to talk about it away from your son? A son shouldn’t have to see his mother upset.”

The other two boys couldn’t understand what Yuki was doing, helping her get away from the Shisha as they quickly closed the door behind it. Yuki kept calm even though the Shisha in Tohru’s room pounded violently.

“I must apologize, he’s normally very well behaved. He just isn’t feeling too well.”

“It’s alright. He must be cranky. I’m guessing he wanted a nap?”

“Yuki, why are you playing along with her, she’s fucking crazy,” Haru whispered harshly.

Yuki ignored his cousin as he continued talking to the woman. The more he spoke to her, the more she seemed to relax. Kyo’s conscience hit his stomach painfully. She really seemed like a very nice woman. She even started helping them pack their things. She was acting like a mother. She was a mother, he had to correct himself. This woman, every time he looked at her, that smile. It was the same as his mother’s. The same smile she was giving was the same one his mom used to give before she killed herself. This woman was dying and here she was, helping them pack as much of their crap while her son was clawing at Tohru’s door.

“Here you go, sweetie.”

“Thank you,” Kyo bowed his head slightly.

She looked at Kyo, placing her hand on his cheek, “You look like my son if he could grow up to be your age,” and with that, she started crying.

Kyo felt extremely uncomfortable as he watched her cry. She quickly took her hand back, placing them over her face as she attempted to dry her tears. The woman apologized as she continued crying. The more she sobbed, the more uncomfortable Kyo felt and the more he just wanted to get the hell away from her. Even with all that has happened, he still couldn’t with other people and these kinds of emotions.

“Please, will you and your cousins do me a favor?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“Take care of my son. I don’t want him living like a monster.”

Kyo felt his body tense up. A monster. Lord, if she knew who she was talking to, she would have run the other way. He was a monster. And not like the Shisha that was now roaming around. He was the real deal. His bracelet reminded him that every single day that he was and would always be a horrible creature.

“Kyo, what’s wrong?” Haru broke Kyo out of his thoughts.

“Haru, where’s Yuki?”

“Why?”

“We need to put down the Shisha. She gave us permission,” Kyo muttered.

Haru nodded as he went to Yuki’s room, opening the door to see Yuki no longer wearing his school uniform. He had on some of his more looser fitting jeans along with a hooded shirt. He was stretching when Haru barged in, his stomach peaking slightly before he put his arms down quickly.

“Come on, the crazy lady is gonna let us kill the thing in Tohru’s room.”

Yuki nodded as he went left his room. He could her Kyo telling her to just wait in his room while they took care of her “son”. He closed his door before meeting them at the hallway. They were at Tohru’s door, Kyo felt his nerves were just about shot. He was going to take care of it. She was the one that asked him. It was up to him to do it. He could do it. This was just like any other Shisha. But if that was the case, why was he so terrified? It was a kid once. But it wasn’t any more Even if that crazy lady’s words were stuck in his head, _you look like my son if he could grow up to be your age._

“Just stay behind me. I shouldn’t need back up, I just want you two here just in case.”

The other two nodded as Kyo made his way to the front of the door. He sighed as he opened it slowly. He knew very well that since it had stopped scratching and pounding at the door, he would be able to get the upper hand on it.

As soon as he had the door fully open, he looked at the Shisha. Its hair was a shade off his own orange locks. When they were once human, they couldn’t have been no older than seven. What the hell exactly happened to that kid for them to have become one of those things? Kyo just looked at it. His heart pounded as his chest felt like it was constricting. Kyo’s eyes locked with the Shisha. Kyo felt himself go numb. He couldn’t move a single muscle. He couldn’t hear anything. It was just him, the Shisha, and its mother crying, _you look like my son if he could grow up to be your age._   Her voice just rang over and over in his head. Kyo just couldn’t think. He felt his body screaming for him to do something. Anything was better than having that thing eat him. Why couldn’t he move? Why, out of all the Shisha they fought, this the one where he was paralyzed with fear? That Shisha was already moving towards him. Kyo could feel his body tremble as he watched the Shisha creep ever closer. She was right. The child looked very similar to him when he was a kid. The kid was a little shorter, and the hair a bit browner, maybe because of its natural hair color, or maybe because of the dirt and grim. This Shisha terrified him.

“Kyo!”

Kyo blinked as he realized just how close the Shisha had gotten to him. There wasn’t much time for him to even react. Before he knew it, he saw Yuki from the corner of his eye as he smashed the table leg across the Shisha’s face. His face blanched as he watched Yuki swing at the child Shisha. The rat was just whaling at it while Kyo watched. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t move. Why couldn’t he do it? That Shisha wasn’t him. It looked like him from a long time ago. But it wasn’t him. He was alive. He still wasn’t bitten.

“Kyo,” Haru put his hand on his shoulder, “are you alright?”

“It’s nothing,” Kyo muttered.

“You froze,” Yuki spoke softly as he cleaned his face with his sleeve.

Yuki had already changed his clothes from his ruined school uniform. He had on a hoodie shirt and some jeans along with just some regular sneakers. His face smeared with blood as he continued to clean his face with his clothes as best he could.

“I don’t know why,” Kyo lied.

He knew. He was distracted by that woman’s words. He was distracted by the fact that they looked similar. He was distracted by those two little girls in that pink room. Even though Kyo had accepted that the end of the world came, it didn’t hit him until today that it was the end of the world for little kids like those girls, and what was once a little boy. Their lives snuffed out so easily because of the world changed so suddenly. How many people had already died in the last months? How many people did they see die and or turn? How many people did they have to kill after they became Shisha? Why was it that one minute he was perfectly fine living in this kind of world one day, and the next he wished that they could go back into the world where he knew that he would be thrown into that room in the estate? He couldn’t understand it.

“If you don’t want to say why, then don’t,” Yuki muttered.

They went back to Kyo’s room, the woman sat on top of Kyo’s desk, something in her hands while she looked at her arms chewed up from her son. Everybody knew that she was the elephant in the room. She was already bitten, only a matter of time before she would die and turn. Her body was sweating profusely as she looked at her arms and her hands.

“He won’t hurt anybody now,” Kyo spoke to her.

“Thank you,” she smiled, “now, can I ask you, three young men, to do me one more favor?”

“Sure?” Haru wasn’t sure how to go about answering.

She handed the item to Haru, his eyes went wide with fear as he realized quickly what she had handed him. Instinctively, he dropped the item as if it were a giant spider. It made a loud clang as it hit the floor. A gun. Not one of those play ones, but the real deal.

“That’s illegal,” Yuki spoke as he had the same expression as Haru.

“Typically, it is,” she started, “however, my husband was a police officer and he gave these to me.”

She spoke as she showed them her late husband’s badge, “I don’t want to become one of those things. I failed as a wife and as a mother. I don’t want to fail as a human and turn into one of those creatures.”

“What are you asking us to do?” Kyo was starting to get nervous.

“Kill me, please.”

“No,” Kyo stated bluntly, “I’m not playing this game with you. We killed that Shisha because it’s a Shisha, not because it was once your son.”

“Ma’am, we never even killed a person,” Yuki started, “you’re asking high school students to kill you. Do you know how crazy that sounds?”

“This is my final wish, please,” she put her hands over her face as if to contain her own sobbing, “you’ll need it after I’m gone.”

“Lady,” Haru started as he picked up the gun, “we don’t even know how to use it.”

“I do. My bag is in that wardrobe, I have more bullets in there. I can show you,” she coughed up blood into her sleeve.

She started showing them how to take the gun apart and put it back together. She showed them how to turn the safety on and off. She showed them everything she could as quickly as she could, writing down notes for them in case if they forgot. Kyo just sat at the corner with Yuki. He didn’t want to touch it.

“Look, thank you, but we still can’t do what you want us to do,” Haru stated flatly.

“That’s alright,” she spoke as she took in a deep breath.

“Sorry, we couldn’t get here fast enough.”

“Good luck in this hell we call earth,” she gave a soft smile as she cocked the gun.

The three boys looked at her, horrified. Before they could tell her to stop the gun went off. She fell off Kyo’s desk landing near both Kyo and Yuki’s feet. It looked like part of her head had exploded, her eye that was still attached to her head wide open looking at them.

“Holy shit,” Kyo’s voice was strangled as he tried to move away from the dead body.

Haru opened the wardrobe, seeing the bag she told them would be in there. He took it, surprised that it felt heavier than it looked. He grabbed the gun and checked her pockets quickly, careful to not mess with her body more than need be. He found more bullets on her along with a knife.

“We need to grab Tohru’s stuff and get the hell out of here,” Haru muttered.

Both Kyo and Yuki nodded slowly.

~*~

Tohru had her back against the wall as a few Shisha surrounded her. She had just finished some of the chores. Her heart pounded as her anxiety spiked. It was just like the first day. Her mind was spinning as she tried to figure out what to do. Her body was shaking violently as she tried to get herself ready. She felt her body trying to breathe as best as she could, but every breath was shallow. Her mind was spinning. Should she run? Should she fight? If she tried to run, she wouldn’t make it. She had her knife with her.

One of the Shisha stepped closer to her. Tohru’s mind going blank as she slowly brought out her weapon. It felt surreal to her right now. This wasn’t happening. Her body was acting out on it's just as if she was on autopilot. She felt tears stream down her face suddenly. Her vision blurred, only closing her eyes seemed to only help.

It was exactly like the first day. She had gotten separated from everybody. A few Shisha were before her, their teeth bared and ready for the kill. Flashes of the memory flooded into her mind as she recalled the blood. So much blood. So much death. Her heart ached as the horrible memories overwhelmed her. She let out a cry as her body, on its own accord, acted. Her mind left her body as she started thinking about her mother. What would her mother do if she was still alive? Would her mother have gotten bitten? No, her mother was the Red Butterfly. Her mother was the leader of a gang. There was no way that she would have gotten bitten from them. She was much stronger than that. Her mother, if she was still alive, would have come straight to the school. She probably would have, after learning about the curse, surprise hug the boys every day. Although, she could also see her mom just hugging a very willing Momiji.

Tohru’s body moved willingly as she delicately made work with her knife. Her mind was anywhere but here. This wasn’t her. There was no way she could do any of this. She wasn’t the one killing them. It was her body that she lost control over. This wasn’t her killing her former classmates. She felt her voice crack as her body did things she didn’t want to do. Her face stained with tears and gunk from the Shisha. Her body moved eerily as she dodged the Shisha, hitting them behind the knee before plunging her knife into their skull quickly. The last one she kicked, grabbed her foot rougher than she expected. She felt them pull a little harder than what she expected; her tears fell harder as she kicked them with as much force as she could muster. Tohru felt herself stomp with the injured foot, pain shooting up her spine. She slammed her knife in the Shisha skull, tears just continued to stream from her face. It didn’t matter if her entire body was burning with pain. So long as she wasn’t bitten, she would get through it. That was all that mattered.

She was alone in the room again, this time with nothing but the dead Shisha and her thoughts. She hated this world now. Everything was so different. The dead were coming back to life and eating everybody who wasn’t one of them. Even though Kyo and Yuki made up, along with the fact that now her friends knew about the curse… It felt like the price was not worth it. Did the entire world have to plunge into this darkness for them to be alive with the curse?

She tried to stand up, immediately falling back down. Her ankle was in a lot of pain. She wasn’t sure if she had got it sprained or something worse. The Shisha. Did it bite her? Carefully, she took off her shoe and sock, examining her limb. It looked a bit swollen, but no bite. She must have twisted it or something. She sat down, just praying that there wouldn’t be anymore Shisha around the corner.

Tohru didn’t know how long she was sitting in the classroom. But she smiled when she saw Kyo in front of the door. He gave a worried look as he rushed over to her, stunned that she was on the floor with so many Shisha scattered around her.

‘What happened?” Kyo asked.

“I hurt my ankle and I got jumped by some of them, I’m fine though. No bites.”

Kyo nodded as he sat down next to her. He knew that there wasn’t a way for him to lift her without transforming. And he knew that it was going to be bad for both of them if he transformed and there were still more out there. How did they even get inside? They barricaded the stairs. There shouldn’t have been a breach at all. Maybe there was a breach? This wasn’t good. But as badly as he wanted to just run and grab for one of the girls to help Tohru get up and to safety, he knew that leaving her in possible danger was going to get her killed.

“We’ll just wait until somebody comes by,” Kyo smirked as he looked at Tohru.

“The other day you were crying in your sleep,” Tohru spoke casually, “did you have another nightmare?”

“Yeah,” Kyo muttered.

“What was it about?”

“The same one I’ve been having where Yuki was a Shisha.”

“Was the with the other Shisha there? The one that can talk?”

Kyo didn’t want to tell her yes. The other Shisha was there. And every time he had that dream, the dream would just get worse and worse. Yuki was more mutilated with each passing dream. Tohru was looking more like Yotsuya Kaidan with her face marred and chunks of her hair just falling off as he pulled at it in an attempt to keep her off him. In his dream, he would often struggle to just grab at anything to keep her from killing him.

“Yeah, but I still can’t figure out who they actually are.” Kyo lied to her.

How could he tell her that in his dream, she was trying to eat his face off? That he was too terrified to even protect himself when she would bite him in his dreams. She would always bite at him, tearing his flesh with her teeth. And every time, he would wake up from it in a cold sweat. She would look at him sweetly as she brought to him some lunch, or in that case, his breakfast.

“That’s too bad,” Tohru whispered as leaned on his shoulder, “I wish that your dream wouldn’t bother so much.”

“Same,” Kyo muttered.

They stayed like this for a while. It was nice. Even though they were both pretty quiet, it was surprisingly relaxing to just be here with her in the classroom. Yeah, there were dead Shisha scattered around, but the silence was comforting. He sighed as he stood up. He pulled out his ax as he started chopping one of the desks. Once he split part of it off he grabbed the broken desk piece and made his way back to Tohru. He sat back down and looked at his school uniform pants. They were already tattered on some parts. At this point, since they just got their clothes from Shigure’s, he could rip them up a bit more. It didn’t matter at this point. And Tohru was going to need a splint.

He grabbed the bottom of his pant leg and just started ripping the pant leg up. He ended up ripping more than he needed but it wasn’t an issue for him. He tied the part that was in his hand to Tohru’s ankle. At least it would be in place if she did break it.

Kyo looked at the door when he heard something. It was Yuki and Arisa. They probably heard the noise.

“About time,” Kyo spoke sternly.

“Tohru, what happened?” Arisa asked.

“I got attacked by some Shisha. I’m fine though. They didn’t get me or anything.”

“Yuki, come with me, we need to check everywhere. They shouldn’t have gotten in this area, to begin with. I’m worried that they might have broken down one of the barricades. Arisa, can you take Tohru back to the classroom and let everybody know what happened?”

Yuki and Arisa nodded as they did what Kyo asked. Yuki and Kyo ran out of the class as they started for the closest barricade in the immediate area. There was a couple of Shisha, but the barricade was secure. Kyo grabbed his ax and his pocket-knife as he used the ax handle to grab their attention. As soon as they were close enough to stick their heads near him, he stabbed them in the skull, pulling the blade quickly before they fell to the floor. Kyo and Yuki did this with every barricade they had. Nothing was out of the ordinary. They did know that some of the classrooms had Shisha inside. That was probably what happened. Maybe one of the doors gave way and those shishas were able to get out. They checked every door, some classes with Shisha, some empty. All the hallways. Everywhere they could think of. Those Shishas got in somehow and it set Kyo’s nerves over the edge. Unfortunately, it was getting late. And at least for now, everything appeared to be secure.


	7. Chapter 7

Kyo sat on the grass as he watched the others train. More particularly, Tohru. They had gotten into the sports department some time ago, maybe within the first month of the apocalypse started, if he could recall. They found, to their surprise, some archery equipment. And to everybody’s shock, Kyo recommended that Tohru take it up. His reasoning was solid. She was going to have to learn how to defend herself if nobody was there to protect her. The bow and arrow was something that would allow her to protect herself at a distance.

He was amazed that Tohru was a natural. He struggled to try to get the hang of it, but it didn’t phase him. He was a martial artist. He was more comfortable fighting up close and personal. A good swift kick to the head when he didn’t have weapons on him. Or a good hit to the head. But just watching Tohru, her face held an almost eerie concentration as she focused on where she wanted her arrow to go. He could see her inhale as she began to aim, holding her breath as she pulled the arrow and string back. And with an exhale, her fingers delicately let go of the string as the arrow soared through, hitting the tree with a nice thump. Kyo just studied her eyes. Those beautiful brown eyes almost hyper-focused throughout everything when she had that bow in her hand.

Kyo continued to look at everything else, seeing Momiji with his weapon. It was simple, yet very effective. A broomstick with a sharp metal point they had attached to it. He was swinging it around, every once in a while, making a stabbing motion. It worked for him. He was able to use it defensively and offensively.

He was resting after a run. It was something that he loved doing before the world ended. He ran until he felt stitches on his sides, and even then he would still run. The burning in his lungs was the only thing that made him push harder. It was one of the few pains Kyo could feel at this point. Since the dead started moving, it seemed like Kyo had shut off a lot of his feelings. He felt almost empty when he was fighting Shisha. He needed to be empty in order to fight them effectively. The time at Shigure’s proved that notion all too well. He hated the fact that he was too weak, that he let his emotions get to him more than they should have. If he was alone… Kyo shook the thought out of his head. He knew damn well it would have ended badly.

How long has it been since the world was thrown into this nightmare? It was a year almost. For New Years, the entire group decided to simply not celebrate. It felt wrong, almost. What reason did they have to celebrate? Their families were either somewhere in the country, dead, or turned into Shisha. This new year was filled with pain and suffering. And every single one of them wished that the Shisha was gone and for things to just go back to normal.

And as much as Kyo would have agreed with them, a part of him was relieved that the end of the world came. This apocalypse was a secret blessing for him. He was going to be thrown into the Cat Room. His life was supposed to be over this year by Akito’s orders. However, Kyo knew that even if Akito was alive, there was no way that they would be able to get him locked up. Kyo would have been viewed as another able body capable of helping everybody survive.

He remembered how, when he was a small child, he would often sneak off, even when his mother would try to keep him in the house all the time. Most of the times, he would just wander around the area. It was how he met Kyoko. Around the time that he stopped talking to her was around the time that Akito discovered that Kyo was sneaking out. Akito handed one of the harshest punishments to him. Time in that room. It was their way of reminding him that it didn’t matter what he did, where he went. Sooner or later, he would end in the Cat’s Room. By the time he was even able to leave, he was sent back to Kazuma. The longest time he remembered being in that room was maybe two weeks. And that was a bit after his mother died. His father had petitioned for Kyo to just remain in that room. Kazuma was dead set in taking him in. That month, he just remembered it being the worst month of his life. His mom was dead, his father was taking his anger out on him, his father was trying to get Kyo locked up in the room permanently, he had to go to her funeral, and almost immediately went to the Cat Room. He was so thankful that Kazuma was able to convince the family to let him stay with him.

That life was a distant dream now. It was something he barely remembered. He remembered the feelings, because honestly, how can you forget them. But the year? He was too little to even remember it properly. It felt like he couldn’t even really remember what happened before the end of the world. Just a handful of memories.

He watched Yuki and Haru with the others. He could see that his cousins were showing the other martial arts stances. He could see that they were off on some things and figured that it would be better if he went over there to help them out. The cat jumped up to his feet as he made his way to the patch of grass that they were at. When he finally reached them, he could hear Haru telling others something about how he had been doing this for over ten years. And he wasn’t wrong. Kyo was the first one from all of his cousins to go into martial arts. And he was probably the only one still in it.

“Really now, Kyo?” Mayu questioned.

“What?”

“You teach martial arts at your father’s dojo?” Miss. Mayu asked.

“Yeah, I used to,” Kyo muttered, “before the world ended.”

“Then, teach us something since you used to be a teacher for this shit,” Uo laughed, “or have you lost your touch, Kyo-sensei?”

“Can it,” Kyo barked at Arisa.

“But Kyo-sensei,” Yuki interrupted, “show us your skill.”

“And why the hell do you sound so fucking sarcastic, Rat Boy?”

“No, I just sound like that,” Yuki smirked.

Kyo was fuming at the Rat’s taunts. He could feel his blood boil as his knuckles turned bone-white as he listened to Yuki chastise him. He really fucking hated it when Yuki would act like a complete asshole to him like this. And he knew that every time he would lash out at Yuki, he was the one who would get his ass chewed. Yuki only said things to him. He was the one that actually started a physical altercation.

“Then let’s fight,” Kyo started his scowl darkened, “you versus me.”

“And embarrass yourself in front of everybody?” Yuki had that shit-eating grin he would wear just for Kyo.

“Fuck you!”

And with that, Kyo started the fight. The Rat was able to dodge Kyo with very little effort. How was it that with so many years of experience, Kyo still was struggling to fight him? Yuki only studied for two years tops? And Kyo had at least ten years under his black belt. He should be able to win against him. But it didn’t matter. Every time, Yuki would somehow break through his attacks and he would end up either flying into something or he would land flat on his back with his ego and other parts of his body bruised.

“Is that all you go?” Yuki continued to banter the Cat as he stayed strong with his defensive stance.

Kyo only snarled at him, his vision a blur of red as he was still furious. He continued fighting his cousin, swinging more erratic and blindly the longer they continued to fight. Kyo was trying his best to not look like a damn idiot as he swung with a reckless abandonment at Yuki. He was desperate to defeat Yuki, yet every word and every remark hit him harder as if they were sticks and stones breaking every bone in his body. Uo, Hana, and Miss. Mayu was watching their fight in awe as the two young adults spared. Their fight was almost like a dance, limbs flying this way and that. Kyo was furious the more Yuki dodged his punches and kicks. This was complete bullshit for him. Yuki gave his signature smirk, knowing full well that it would send Kyo into an even bigger rage. Once Yuki saw his opening, he struck, his foot planted firmly on his stomach. Kyo fell to his knees clenching his abdomen tightly as he tried to catch his breath.

When did the others gather around them? Momiji and Tohru seemed to have joined them as spectators. Kyo hated how he couldn’t even win against the damn Rat. He felt like there was no way he would be able to beat Yuki. He was the Rat. And Kyo was the Cat. That’s how it would always be. The Rat was always going to be better than the Cat.

“Kyo!” Tohru called out, worry in her voice as she watched him kneel down.

Once Kyo felt like his lungs were full of air again, looking at Yuki. He was expecting to see his normal shit-eating grin but was surprised to see a frown on the Rat’s face.

“Get back up,” Yuki muttered as he gave Kyo his hand.

Begrudgingly, Kyo accepted his hand and stood up. He was still annoyed by his loss but held it in.

“Kyo, try something new for me?”

“What?”

“Ignore my banter. Ignore me egging you on. I want to see if I’m right.”

“What? Why?”

“I’m telling you that I am going to spar with you again. But this time, I want you to ignore me shit-talking for you if my words were too big for your fucking brain to understand. If you have to pretend for me to be a Shisha in order to do it, then do it.”

And with that, they started. Kyo kept his breathing steady. His body felt almost relaxed as he spared with Yuki. Every word he spat at him, Kyo ignored. He felt himself nearly falling to the old temptation but would stop himself. His eyes darting madly as he tried to find a weak spot in Yuki’s defense. This whole fight felt so strange. Everything felt as if time slowed almost to a halt as they continued their fight. And there, to Kyo’s own shock, he spotted an opening. Kyo faked one way before kicking Yuki, sweeping at his feet making the Rat fall flat on his back. Kyo stood over Yuki, his face morphed into one of complete disbelief over what just happened. After all these years, he finally beat Yuki in a match.

And then, with very little warning, Yuki laughed. Hana gave a little nod while Uo and Mayu were clearly entertained. Tohru and the others, Kyo included, just had a dumbfounded look on their face. Kyo actually beat Yuki. And the Rat was laughing. Kyo’s face quickly changed from complete shock to full-blown anger.

“Kyo beat Yuki,” Momiji was stunned.

“Oh, my goodness,” Tohru had a small smile on her face while her voice betrayed her, “after all these years, I’ve never seen Kyo beat Yuki.”

“Neither have I,” Haru spoke up, just as surprised.

“You mother fucker!” Kyo was screaming, “you fucking lost on purpose.”

“Trust me,” Yuki was trying to stop his own laughter, “I didn’t. You won fair and square.”

“Then stop laughing, you asshole!”

Yuki got up with Haru’s help before he dusted himself off. He was finally able to get his laughter under control, although he was trying not to look at Kyo for fear that his angry face would set him off again on another bout of laughter.

“Sorry, Kyo. You really did beat me. After years of trying, you finally bested me,” Yuki put out his hand for a shake.

“How? You’re the damn Rat and I’m the Cat. You shouldn’t have-” Kyo was cut off by Yuki.

“I was right.”

“About?”

“Why I kept beating you.”

“And enlighten me.”

“You were letting me win.”

“How the fuck was I?” Kyo was annoyed.

“Something that Haru said clicked in my head. I’ve been doing martial arts for a couple of years. I probably train maybe once or twice a month if that. And you have been training for how long? Ten years at the very least? You should have been able to wipe the floor with me. But the only reason why I was able to win was that you let me get under your skin. Deep down, you thought that because I was the Rat, I was already going to win. You ignored my attempt to get under your skin. I couldn’t get a solid hit on you because of it. Maybe, in the beginning, the curse played a role with me winning, but your experience and mine are what changed it. And my inexperience is what made you win. So, congratulations,” Yuki spoke with a warm smile, still, he held his hand out.

Kyo took Yuki’s hand, giving it a firm shake. He had lost track with the attempts he made at beating Yuki. He also couldn’t wait to just rub it all over Akito’s stupid face that he finally won their stupid bet. He couldn’t wait to see his smug face turn into one of complete shock and horror. In this new world, it didn’t matter if Yuki was the Rat and therefore the best, Kyo was just as valid. His anger was still there, no longer directed at Yuki but more at himself. Shishio was right. He had been telling Kyo that his main problem when sparing was that when somebody got under his skin, he would make critical mistakes that would cost him his match. It was the reason why he was losing to Yuki. He was the reason why he kept losing.

Kyo sighed as he turned away, “I’m going to do a perimeter check. It hasn’t been done in a while.”

“Kyo, sit your ass back down. You need to take a fucking break,” Uo stated.

“It’s fine, really.”

“No, Tohru, Hana and I can do it,” Arisa smirked, “besides, you’re not the only one who can do it. Just chill out for once.”

“Alright,” Kyo smiled as he turned back to the group, teasing Haru and Momiji.

Tohru, Saki, and Arisa made their way to the gate, talking about random things. They have been here at the school for almost a year. Their lives had changed so much. Their minds had grown harder as the days, weeks, months had passed. Their faces dirty from the long day of training.

“So, does anybody have a crush on anyone?” Uo laughed.

“Kyo will eventually call me Mom,” Hana muttered as she continued walking.

“Let me rephrase that, does anybody have a crush on anybody in the group?”

“Oh, then no.”

“Tohru, what about you?”

She looked at Arisa with a surprised look. Did she have a crush? She did. But he wasn’t interested in her. He found her annoying. She knew that. He said it multiple times to her before. He was rough and tough, but he had a very kind and gentle heart, even if he didn’t want to admit it. This year, though, she felt had strained their friendship. It felt like anything she did would break him. Some days, he was the strongest and happiest of the group, doing everything to help give them a better chance at surviving. And other days, the horrors of this world would be drawn on his face. She wanted to do everything she could to let him know that things would eventually get better. But, how could she? This world wasn’t going to get better. She knew that. And he knew that, too.

“I uh,” Tohru was blushing.

“You do?”

“I kinda do, but I don’t think he even has one on me!” Tohru was turning red.

“Who is it?” Uo asked, a huge grin plastered on her face.

“Does it matter? He doesn’t like me, unfortunately,” Tohru gave a soft smile.

“Is he alive?”

“Yeah, it’s one of the guys in the group.”

“Oh, you sweet summer child,” Arisa laughed as she hugged Tohru’s head.

“It’s Kyo, isn’t it,” Hana spoke calmly as she pulled her knife.

In front of her, at the gate were a few Shisha. She stabbed them in the head as they dropped. Lately, there had been more of them by the gates. This wasn’t good. They had seen smaller groups of Shisha gather around but they would pass. However, the smaller groups have been merging lately, growing larger. Sooner or later, they were going to get larger and the school that once was their safety would become their resting place.

“This isn’t good,” Hana muttered as she finished with the fourth Shisha.

“Yeah, you’re right. There’s a group over there too,” Uo muttered as she pointed a few feet away from the other group of Shisha.

“There’s been more of them around the gates lately,” Tohru spoke softly.

They continued walking as they continued stabbing the Shisha through the fence. Until suddenly, a few feet from them, they saw part of the fencing bending. A large group of Shisha pressed their bodies against the metal chain link fence. And as if the fence cried in defeat, that section and surrounding sections gave way. Horror painted the girls face at what they had just witnessed.

“RUN!” Hana’s voice uncharacteristically dipped with complete and total fear.

The other two girls didn’t argue as they ran back, their lungs on fire as they forced their legs to carry them back to the group. They needed to get out. They needed to get this contained. They needed to get the fence fixed. They needed to save the school. By the time they made it back to the group outside, they collapsed, struggling to breathe. Their lungs screamed as they desperately tried to get air into their bodies. The look of complete and total fear painted on each one of their faces.

“The,” Tohru was struggling to breathe.

“What happened?” Yuki rushed to her and the other two girls.

“The fence is down!” Hana cried out.

Rarely did the others hear even an ounce of emotion from the dark-haired young woman. She was always so calm and stoic. The girl could literally be set on fire and being tortured, and she would look as if she were watching the news. To see her shaken up this badly was not good.

“Kyo take my keys, bring the car to the front,” Mayu barked, “Yuki, I want you to come with me to the roof to see the damage. Everybody else, I need you all to gather our things in the car. If we need to leave, we’ll do it.”

And with that, they did as what their teacher told them. They knew that one day, this may happen. They hoped that this was a false alarm. Maybe the hoard that got in was just small and they could repair the fence quickly.

Tohru made it to the classroom they had been sleeping in for the past year. On the board, she saw a piece of chalk. Without thinking, she grabbed it. And through her tears she wrote:

 

** WE WILL SURVIVE THIS **

**Kyo Sohma Yuki Sohma Arisa Uotani**  
Saki Hanajima Haru Sohma Momiji Sohma  
Mayuko Sensei Tohru Honda

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry for the chapter being so short. The next chapter is going to be much longer, I promise.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading the first chapter. I hope you enjoyed it.


End file.
